Posc Exam 2

Front 1

public opinion

Back 1

political attitudes and beliefs expressed by oridanary citizens. ideally,we would expect the actions of gvmnt to reflect the policy preferences and priorities of the public.

Front 2

intensity

Back 2

strength of an opinion, likely to be the basis for behavior. (abortions, guns, enviromental issues)

Front 3

stability

Back 3

opinion is more likely to change when an individual lacks intensity or info about an issue.

Front 4

political socialization

Back 4

our opinions about issues developed are shaped through a process called political socialization. during this, we learn about politics by being exposed to new info by agents of socialization.

Front 5

agents of socialization

Back 5

agents of socialization

Front 6

family

Back 6

a)shape personality-which may influence opinions.
b)family places children in a network of social and economic relationships that influences how they view the world and how the world views them.
c)influence is the strongest when children clearly percieve what the parents opinion is and the matter is important to the parents.

Front 7

school

Back 7

a)promote patriotic rituals such as the pledge
b)teach the history and symbols associated with U.S.-minor impact in conveying democratic values.
c)the skills and experience education offer appear to make the most difference. people who have more years of formal education tend to be more interested in politics, are more likely to appreciate that democratic politics involves disagreements, arguments, bargaining and compromise.

Front 8

peers

Back 8

a)have the most influence when the group is attractive to the individual and when the individual spends more time w the group.
b)influence of peer groups may be increasing as kids spend less time w parents (gangs attempt to satisfy needs traditionally satisfied by the family)

Front 9

Mass media

Back 9

a)provide info and influence what we think about.
b)shapes how we think about things-research shows that changes in public opinion tend to follow sentiments expressed by TV news commentators.

Front 10

adult socialization

Back 10

a) socialization does not end at 18- it continues on through our lifetime.
b)large events change how people think-Great depression
c)personal experience/workplace
d)opinions also change as our personal situation changes-marriage, divorce,unemployment.

Front 11

random samples

Back 11

ensure that each member of the popluation has an equal chance of being chosen.

Front 12

margin of error

Back 12

measure of accuracy of a public opinion poll. many national polls use samples of 1000 to 1500 individuals. the margin of error of a national sample of 1000 will be about 3 percent.

Front 13

political efficacy

Back 13

the sense that one can affect what government does. has been declining for quite some time.

Front 14

party identification

Back 14

the sense of belonging to one party or another. has been declining for quite some time.

Front 15

game schema-pattersons 2 schemas

Back 15

media is dominated by it.
it assumes that politics is, above all else, a strategic game in which the players continuously compete for advantage. in other words, the press views politics as a game of power and thus portrays it to the public as such.

Front 16

goverining schema-pattersons 2 schemas

Back 16

second structure. refers to the perception that politics is a method of choosing political leaders and policy alternatives. the public requires good information to help them make decisions.

Front 17

roles of mass media in democracy-watchdog over government

Back 17

the role of the media in scrutinizing the actions of government officials.
ex) watergate, the iran-contra affair, monica lewinsky scandal.

Front 18

roles of mass media in democracy-providing policy information

Back 18

present a diverse, full and enlightening set of facts and ideas about public policy and candidates.
ex) citizens need to know how well current policies are working, as well as the pros and cons of the alternative policies that might be tried.

Front 19

organization of the media-corporate ownership

Back 19

a small number of conglomaters (disney, time warner, news corps) control a significant portion of the mass media.

Front 20

uniformity and diversity

Back 20

1)whoever owns them, most news media depen on teh same sources of info. the AP wire service is subscribed to by all major news outlets.
2)however, there is also quite a lot of diversity. for conservatives we have, the weekly standard and national review. publications on the left include the Nation, Mother Jones, Z Magazine. Blogs have quickly become a powerful force in politics.

Front 21

EFFECTS OF THE MEDIA ON POLITICS-agenda setting

Back 21

influencing what people consider to be important. sometimes what the media covers diverges from actual trends in problems. ex) publicity about crime may reflect editors preferences rather than a rising crime rate.

Front 22

EFFECTS OF THE MEDIA ON POLITICS-framing

Back 22

providing a context for interpretation.
"once a frame is set, people no longer listen ot facts that contradict it. the facts just bounce off. facts are important, but they come after the frame, not instead of it."-George Lakoff

ex)tax relief
affliction-taxes
hero-tax reliever
victim-tax payers
villiam-anyone trying to prevent the relief

Front 23

BIASES IN THE MEDIA-commercial bias

Back 23

most news media outlets are generally in the business of making money.

the profit motive often means that the biggest mass media tend to avoid controversial material that might upset some of its viewers or runs counter to its own interests.

Front 24

NON VIOLENT DISOBEDIENCE-defined

Back 24

a)involves a refusal to retaliate by a disobedient("pacifism" "nonresistance"), even when authorities confront hom or her with physical harm.
b)involves an individual and/or group expressing a deeply held conviction by doing or refusing to do certain things (direct action).
c)entails intentional disobedience to governmental authority (lawbreaking), usually for the sake of moral principle.
d) this form of disobedience requires participants to willingly accept punishment for the act of defiance (imprisonment, fines).

Front 25

love and nonviolent civil disobedience

Back 25

a)embraces the notion that love can be a powerful agent of social change.
b)from this perspective, love is not only stronger than hatred and injustice, but it can transform them.
1)by confronting hatred and injustice w unconditional love, we can expose others to the inherent undesirability of the policy or law in question.

Front 26

mass protest

Back 26

marches build and rejuvenate the various movements by sending a message to those in power, and by forever changing the lives of participants.
1) NOW-organized a record breaking crowd of 600,000 at the April 1989 march, followed by 350,000 in a November 1989 rally, then broke our own record for bringing 750,000 abortion rights supporters for a massive April 1992 march for womens lives.
2)MLK-March on Washington (auug 1963) "i have a dream" 250,000 protestors.
3)south carolina and the flag-january 2000, almost 50,000 march on the statehouse.

Front 27

political parties

Back 27

organizations that seek to control government by recruiting, nominating, and electing their members to public office.

Front 28

SIX PARTY SYSTEMS-the first party system-federalists v democratic-republicans (1796-1824)

Back 28

between the federalist (located in england) who supported commercial interests and favored an expansive national government and the democratic-republicans (south and west) who advocated agricultural interest.
federalist party gradually disappeared tainted by its aristocratic tendencies and pro-british sympathies during the war of 1812.

Front 29

SIX PARTY SYSTEMS-second party system-democrats v whigs (1828-1856)

Back 29

arrival of the whigs. democrats, under andrew jackson, emphasize the common person and popular participation. turnout triples as the democrats pushed to overturn property qualifications. ended the domination of elites.
in contrast with the 1st party system, these parties were well organized, w sharply contrasting programs tied to a highly partisan electorate.

Front 30

SIX PARTY SYSTEMS-third party system-democrats v repulicans (1860-1892)

Back 30

1860, the Whigs had dissapeared and the repulican party had emerged. largely composed of abolitionists and northern democrats who left the party to oppose slavery.
lincoln won the vote with almost no support from the south, markin the beginning of regional voting.
once the civil war was over, the republicans and democrats found themselves roughly balanced in national politics. democrats were primarily a white southern party, w substantial support from catholics and the working class. republicans became a party of business, the middle class, and newly enfranchised african americans.

Front 31

SIX PARTY SYSTEM-fourth party system-democrats v republicans (1896-1928)

Back 31

critical election of 1896 brought about a period of republican dominance. democrats were reduced to their base in the south, while republicans domincated the north and west.

Front 32

SIX PARTY SYSTEM-fifth party system-democratic dominance (1932-1964)

Back 32

new deal coalition-alliance of working class ethnic groups, catholics, urban dwellers, jews, racial minorities, and the South was the basis of the democratic party during this period.
republicans became, more than ever, the party of business and the affluent.

Front 33

SIX PARTY SYSTEM-sixth party system (1968 to the present)(divided government)

Back 33

1968 to 1992 is characterized by republican control of the executive and democratic control of congress.
republicans make great inroads into the democratic southern base. reagan successfully drew other democrats by emphasizing several issues, like abortion.
during the 1990's democrats regain control of the white house, but eventually lost in ccongress. 2000-2008, republicans maintained control of the executive but lost control of the legislative branch after the 2006 elections.

Front 34

proportional representation

Back 34

type of electoral system in which legislative seats are apportioned to political parties in proportion to the popular vote that each party recieves.
a) a vote for a third party is not wasted, bc it could very well lead to legislative seats and a place in a governing coalition.

Front 35

winner take all, singel member districts

Back 35

in the US we usually elect only one person to a given office and do so on the basis of whoever wins the most votes.
a) this arrangement creates a powerful incentive for parties to coalesce and for voters to concentrate their attention on big parties.
b)from a voters perspective,a single member winner take all election means that a vote for a minor party is wasted.
c) to parties, these electoral rules discourage minor party activities bc failure to come in first leaves such a party with no representation at all. the incentive for these groups is to merge w one of the larger parties.

Front 36

critical elections

Back 36

mark the emergence of a new, lasting alignment of partisan support within the electorate.

Front 37

15th amendment (1870)

Back 37

the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Front 38

24th amendment (1964)

Back 38

the righ of citizens of the US to vote in any primary or other elction for President of VP, for electors for President or VP, or for senator or represenatative in congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.

Front 39

poll taxes

Back 39

by 1904, all of the Solid South had such tax. In four states, it was cumulative-so you would have to pay back taxes before casting a ballot.

Front 40

LITERACY TEST-implicit

Back 40

south carolina used a system (est. 1882) where votes for different offices had to be placed in different boxes. if the ballot was placed in the wrong box, it would not be counted.

Front 41

LITERACY TEST-explicit

Back 41

many states designed tests to restrict access. most were not designed to measure literacy. used throughout the country.

Front 42

LITERACY TEST-voting rights act of 1965 and Amendments in 1970

Back 42

effectively banned the use of literacy tests.

Front 43

19th amendment

Back 43

"the right of the citizens of the united states to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the united states of by any state on account of sex"

Front 44

voting age-26th amendment (1971)

Back 44

lowers voting age to 18