Ch 6 Flashcards
Public opinion
the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics
Demography
the science of population changes
Census
The Census Bureau conducts an “actual enumeration” of the U.S. population once every 10 years, as required by the Constitution
Exit Poll
During Election Day, at randomly selected voting places, workers from pollster companies will stand at the door and ask every 10th person who they voted for as they exit. This is to gather polling data and help the media gauge which candidate is winning.
Minority majority
Eventually the US will stop having a non-Hispanic white majority. The Census Bureau projects that by the mid-21st century, non-Hispanics whites will represent a minority. In 2015, the Census Bureau found that non-Hispanic whites make an all-time low of 62% of the population, and Hispanics make up the largest minority group at 18%
Political culture
an overall set of values widely shared within a society. Despite then extremely diverse cultural and ethnic landscape of the US, citizens share some basic political values such as equality
Political ideology
a coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy, politics, and public purpose of the government, helping one organize their thoughts about political issues
Civil disobedience
a form of political participation based on a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and to suffer the consequence
reapportionment
once every 10 years, the number of representatives in the House each state receives shifts a little bit to reflect the states’ change in population, using data from the Census.
Random sampling
a sample (i.e. of 1,000) can reflect an entire population. A key technique employed by survey researchers, relying on the fact that everyone should have an equal chance of being selected
Sample
a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole
Sampling error
the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more confident one can be in the results
Random-digit dialing
a technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers (numbers not in phone books) when conducting a survey. How most polling is done in the modern day.
Political participation
all activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. Ranges from voting, to protests, to civil disobedience.
Gender gap
ideological difference between men and women. The regular pattern in which women are more likely to support democratic candidates, in part because they tend to be less conservative than men. Also more likely to spend on social services than on military spending.
