EXAM 2 Flashcards
What is framing?
Framing involves social construction of a social phenomenon – by mass media sources, political or social movements, political leaders, or other actors and organizations.
What is priming?
Political media priming is “the process in which the media attend to some issues and not others and thereby alter the standards by which people evaluate election candidates”.
What is a heuristic?
any approach to problem solving, learning, or discovery that employs a practical method not guaranteed to be optimal or perfect, but sufficient for the immediate goals.
What is a political action committee?
an organization that raises money privately to influence elections or legislation, especially at the federal level.
What is a primary election?
is an election that narrows the field of candidates before an election for office. Primary elections are one means by which a political party or a political alliance nominates candidates for an upcoming general election or by-election.
What is a general election?
A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation’s primary legislative body
What is an electoral college?
a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.
a body of electors chosen or appointed by a larger group.
What are some cons of the electoral college?
the possibility of electing a minority president
the risk of so-called “faithless” Electors,
the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turnout, and
its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will.
What are some pros of the electoral college?
contributes to the cohesiveness of the country by requiring a distribution of popular support to be elected president
enhances the status of minority interests,
contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two-party system, and
maintains a federal system of government and representation.
Why America has a two party system?
- Over the years only these 2 parties have managed to build up sufficient funds to fight a national campaign at the level required for success. Also over the years only these 2 parties have managed to build up sufficient links to big business etc to acquire funding and support.
- American system allows both parties to adopt and shape their policies as and when they like. Therefore any decent policy taken on by a third party can be usurped by one of the big two – and that is acceptable in US politics. Therefore by adopting a third party’s policies, the ‘big two’ can move forward with policies that might be part of a third party’s strategy for success – and steal its clothes.
Variations in American voter turnout rate. Who votes?
In the aggregate, voters tend to be older, wealthier, more educated and whiter than non-voters.
Age: Young people are much less likely to vote than older ones. From 1972 to 2012, citizens 18-29 years old turned out at a rate 15 to 20 points lower than citizens 30 year and older.
Race/ethnicity: Voter turnout also varies by race and ethnicity. In 2012, turnout rates among eligible white and black voters was 64.1% and 66.2%, respectively, while it was only 48.0% and 47.3% among Latino and Asian American voters respectively. The 2012 election was the first presidential election since Reconstruction ended in which black turnout exceeded white turnout.
Gender: Women’s voter turnout has surpassed men’s in every presidential election since 1980. In the 2012 election, 7.8 more women than men voted. Interestingly though, older women are actually less like to vote than older men. In 2008, 72.2% of men 75 years and older voted, compared to only 64.9% of women that age.
Socio-economic status: Wealthy Americans vote at much higher rates than those of lower socio-economic status. During the 2008 presidential election, only 41% of eligible voters making less than $15,000 a year voted, compared to 78% of those making $150,000 a year or more.
what is supply side economics
Supply-side economics is a macroeconomic theory which argues that economic growth can be most effectively created by investing in capital, and by lowering barriers on the production of goods and services
Define equal time rule
The equal-time rule specifies that U.S. radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it. This means, for example, that if a station gives a given amount of time to a candidate in prime time, it must do the same for another candidate who requests it, at the same price if applicable.[1] The equal-time rule was created because the FCC thought the stations could easily manipulate the outcome of elections by presenting just one point of view, and excluding other candidates.
Define fairness doctrine
required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the Commission’s view—honest, equitable, and balanced.
What is the free rider problem?
The free rider problem, in economics, refers to a situation where some individuals in a population either consume more than their fair share of a common resource, or pay less than their fair share of the cost of a common resource.
