Chapter 7 Political Participation (Gov1)

Question 1

Passionates

Answer 1

Members of the public who are highly engaged with politics/ government

Question 2

Scorekeepers

Answer 2

Members of the public who are moderately aware of and involved in politics/government

Question 3

Uninvolveds

Answer 3

Members of the public who rarely attend to public/government, apart from voting in national elections and following an issue or two that matters most to them

Question 4

Voter turnout

Answer 4

A measure of what proportion of eligible voters actually cast a legitimate bailout in a given election

Question 5

Electoral activities

Answer 5

Public engagement in the form of voting, running for office, volunteering in a campaign, or otherwise participating in elections

Question 6

Civic voluntarism

Answer 6

Citizen participation in public life without government incentives or coercion (speaking at a town meeting vs. paying taxes for example).

Question 7

Political voice

Answer 7

Exercising one’s public rights, often through speaking out in protest or in favor or some policy change

Question 8

Paradox of voting

Answer 8

For the most individuals, the cost of voting (acquiring necessary information, traveling to polling site, and waiting in line) outweighs the apparent benefits. Economic theory would predict very low voter turnout, given this analysis

Question 9

Social capital

Answer 9

Relations between people that build closer ties of trust and civic engagement, yielding productive benefits for the larger society

Question 10

Political mobilization

Answer 10

Efforts to encourage people to engage in the public sphere: to vote for a particular candidate ( or donate money, work on the campaign, etc.) or to get involved in specific issues

Question 11

Issue advocacy

Answer 11

Organized effort to advance (or block) a proposed public policy change

Question 12

Motor voter law

Answer 12

Passed in 1993, this act enables prospective voters to register when they receive their driver’s license

Question 13

Circle of nonparticipation

Answer 13

Resistance by political parties to mobilizing disengaged Americans to vote because their lack of involvement makes their allegiance to one or the other party suspect

Question 14

Clicktivism

Answer 14

One description of democratic engagement in an online age: point your Web browser, click, and you’ve donated funds, “liked” a candidate, or (in some states) even cast your vote

Question 15

Digital divide

Answer 15

The gap between those with ready access to the internet and those without

Question 16

Din

Answer 16

Shorthand for the sheer volume of information and noise generated by online sources; can be a disincentive to participate politically

Question 17

Nudgeocracy

Answer 17

Informal name for a political system organized (at least in part) around behavioral “nudges” of the population

Question 18

Bandwagon effect

Answer 18

When people join a cause because it seems popular or support a candidate who is leading in the polls

Question 19

Anchoring

Answer 19

Behavioral bias leading many people to rely too much on a single piece of information, often a number