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38 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is political socialization?
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Process through which a person becomes aware of politics, learns political information & forms political views.
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What are the major agents of political socialization?
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Family, schools, friends, mass media, workplace, memberships |
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Which political trait is most likely to be shared by parents and children?
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Partisanship |
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What are the important political traits impacted by the schools?
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Instill difference to authority, personalization & idealization of gov’t and the nation, symbolism and patriotism
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What are some of the other influences on political attitudes?
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region/location, race & ethnicity, religion, economic class, gender
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What are critical events?
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War, economic hardship, 9/11, etc. |
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What is a political culture?
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The dominant values and beliefs of a political community.
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How do life-cycle effects and generational effects differ?
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Life cycle effects are change in our life circumstances, while generational effects result from unique issues and events confronting each generation.
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How do direction, salience and intensity relate to the topic of public opinion?
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Direction - refers to an individual’s preference with respect to a particular issue
Salience - is the importance we attach to an issue or topic about which we are asked Intensity - consists of how strongly an individual holds a particular preference on an issue |
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What are some of the different approaches to measuring public opinion?
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1st - public opinion attaches itself to issues of public 2nd - public opinion sets boundaries on the type/expanse of policy proposals that citizens find acceptable 3rd - it might be more important for the gov't to heed the opinions of some citizens rather than those of others 4th - opinion can be different from judgement |
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What is a political ideology?
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A cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the role of gov’t
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Are most Americans ideologically rigid/consistent?
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They are neither |
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What is the ideological spectrum, and where most Americans located on the this spectrum?
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Ideological spectrum is to make sense of what is a pretty complicated political world with many different political ideologies. Most Americans are on the left wing of the spectrum.
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Conservatism
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prioritize order over freedom but freedom over equality
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Liberalism
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prioritize equality over freedom but freedom over order
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Libertarian
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prioritize freedom over both order and equality
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Populist
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order and equality were co-equally important values and took priority over freedom
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Centrist
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mixture of right wing and left wing
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Libertarianism
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are left-wing on moral/social issues (they see virtually no government role to play there) and are right-wing on economic issues (again, seeing virtually no government role to play there.
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Populism
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are the opposite. They are left-wing on economic issues and right-wing on moral/social issues (seeing a big role for the government to play in both areas).
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What is a political party?
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they are collections of like-minded people organizing together to elect members to office.
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Electoral functions of political parties |
1. Coalition-building 2. Making voting easier 3. Recruiting and assisting candidates |
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Governmental functions of political parties |
1. Improving the coordination/cooperation between different branches/levels of gov't. 2. Political parties help gov't become more responsive to the people 3. Making gov't more accountable to voters |
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What is realignment? |
It is a situation when some voters become frustrated with the political status quo and shift their loyalties, enough to disturb the balance between the parties.
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Describe the evolution of the American political party system over the last twocenturies?
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1. Federalists & Anti-Federalists (1789-1824) 2. Democrats & Whigs (1789-1824) 3. Republicans & Democrats in Close Competition (1856-1892) 4. Republican Ascendancy (1896-1928) 5. Democratic Ascendancy (1932-1964) 6. Dealignment/Era of Divided Government (1968-present) |
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What are the different types of third parties, and what are some examples of each?
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1. Sectional/regional 2. Ideological protest parties 3. Single issue 4. Splinter/bolter parties 5. Personality-oriented third parties |
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In what ways can a third party impact the political system?
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1) Third parties are often the vehicles through which new ideas are introduced onto the political agenda. Sometimes, the major parties adopt those issues as their own.
2) A third party candidate can “tip” an election by draining votes away from one of the major parties. 3) A third party candidate could potentially deadlock the electoral college. On rare occasion, a third party candidate might win a state and some electoral votes. If the division in the electoral vote is close enough, no candidate may emerge with a majority. In that situation, a third party candidate could bargain for with the major party candidates for political concessions as a price for the support of his electors. |
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Why has the American party system always been dominated by two major parties?
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Because of the election rules, the tendency of American votes to shy away from ideological extremes, state laws, and the way our elections are financed. (pg 200)
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How does one differentiate an interest group from a political action committee (PAC)?
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Interest group - a collection of people holding common views/interests working to influence gov’t policy
Political action committees (PACs) - Organized financial arms of interest groups used to collect and distribute money to candidates for elective office |
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What are the major roles/functions of interest groups and/or PACs?
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Representative
Facilitating political participation Educational function Agenda building/agenda setting Influencing public opinion Coalition building |
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What factors make an interest group effective?
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Membership size
Financial resources Effective leadership Active membership Agreement with public opinion |
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What is lobbying?
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lobbying is the act of political persuasion.
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What are the different types of lobbying?
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DIRECT and GRASSROOTS.
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What are the different types of interest groups?
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Economic Interest Groups
Social Interest Groups Single Issue Interest Groups Public Interest Groups |
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What is the difference between conventional and unconventional forms of participation?
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Conventional - legal Unconventional - illegal |
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How do the different types of elections impact voter turnout (which has the highest voter turnout)?
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Larger turnout in “high stimulus” elections. The highest stimulus election would be presidential elections. In these elections, there is more media coverage, more candidate spending, with more voter awareness and interest as a result.
There is lower turnout in “low stimulus” elections. These would include midterm elections (like in 2010, where many important offices other the presidency are being determined), primary elections (when the party faithful are asked to select whom they want to nominate to run in the general election in the fall). |
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What are the major influences on how a person will cast their vote?
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party
Candidate attributes/qualities issues |
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What are some of the factors influencing voter turnout/level of participation? Why is turnout lower in the United States than many other countries?
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Registration is done individually through mail or in person rather than automatically like in other countries, Timing and scheduling of elections also affects turnouts, having a two-party system also explains low turnout in the U.S. The number and frequency of elections is another factor depressing turnout in U.S. Finally, competitiveness of the race affects turnout.
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