We The People Ch. 5 Key Terms

Front 1

attitude (opinion)

Back 1

a specific preference on a particular issue

Front 2

public opinion

Back 2

citizens’ attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions, and events.

Front 3

Values (beliefs)

Back 3

basic principles that shape a person’s opinions about political issues and events.

Front 4

equality of opportunity

Back 4

a widely shared American ideal that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential.

Front 5

Liberty

Back 5

freedom from governmental control

Front 6

democracy

Back 6

a system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election of key public officials.

Front 7

conservative

Back 7

today this term refers to those who generally support the social and economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new political formulae and economic arrangements; conservatives believe that a large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens’ freedom.

Front 8

Liberal

Back 8

today this term refers to those who generally support social and political reform; governmental intervention in the economy and more economic equality; the expansion of federal social services; and greater concern for consumers and the environment.

Front 9

Political ideology

Back 9

a cohesive set of beliefs that forms a general philosophy about the role of government.

Front 10

agents of socialization

Back 10

social institutions, including families and schools, that help shape individuals’ basic political beliefs and values

Front 11

political socialization

Back 11

the induction of individuals into the political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based.

Front 12

gender gap

Back 12

a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between women and men.

Front 13

market place of ideas

Back 13

the public forum in which beliefs and ideas are exchanged and compete.

Front 14

public-opinion polls

Back 14

scientific instruments for measuring public opinion.

Front 15

random digit dialing

Back 15

a polling method in which respondents are selected at random from a list of 10-digit telephone numbers, with every effort to avoid bias in the construction of the sample.

Front 16

Sample

Back 16

a small group selected by researchers to represent the most important characteristics of an entire population

Front 17

Sampling error (margin of error)

Back 17

polling error that arises based on the small size of the sample.

Front 18

simple random sample (probabilitysample)

Back 18

a method used by pollsters to select a representative sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent.

Front 19

social desirability effect

Back 19

the effect that results when respondents in a survey report what they expect the interviewer wishes to hear rather than what they believe.

Front 20

selection bias (surveys)

Back 20

polling error that arises when the sample is not representative of the population being studied, which creates errors in over-representing or underrepresenting some opinions.

Front 21

bandwagon effect

Back 21

a shift in electoral support to the candidate whom public opinion polls report as the front-runner.

Front 22

Push polling

Back 22

a polling technique in which the questions are designed to shape the respondent’s opinion.