Exam 3 Flashcards
How do Americans compare to the rest of the world in voter turnout?
Americans vote less than the rest of the world
How do Americans compare to the rest of the world in political participation?
Americans participate more than the rest of the world
How do scholars explain why people continue to vote despite the costs of voting outweighing the benefits
They feel it is their duty and they get a good feeling from doing it
What are the factors associated with participating in voting more
Higher Education and higher socioeconomic status are associated with participating more
What factors are associated with participating in voting less
Low/less education and low socioeconomic status
What is an interest group?
Any group other than a political party that is organized to influence the government
What is the job of interest groups
Continue functioning (fundraising and maintains backers that the cause is worth it)
Establish relationships with legislators
Provide information
Help develop a legislative strategy
Draft legislation
Mobilize voters and activists
What is insider trading
Interest group activity that includes normal lobbying, working with elected officials, and contributing money to their campaigns
What is outsider trading
Interest group activity designed to influence elected officials by threatening to impose political costs on them if they do not respond
-through marches, demonstrations, and redistributed campaign funds-
What is grassroots lobbying
Lobbying by rank and file members of interest groups in districts- letter writing campaigns and calling congress people
What is AstroTurf lobbying
Inauthentic grassroots signals about constituent support for issues
What role do interest groups play in trying to influence the Supreme Court and giv an example
Litigation
Interest groups will watch court cases and offer support on amicus Curiae briefs to use the cases to change legal precedent
Ex.) Laurence v Texas privacy v sodomy
How do social movements differ from interest groups
Social movements have broader goals with more nuances than interest groups
Social movements arise out of groups that feel excluded from the mainstream political parties while interest groups and interest groups deliberately create themselves around issues
Social movements more broadly affect American politics by engaging new participants, changing political agendas, and changing policy and interest groups are behind doors with specific issues
What is the resource mobilization perspective
The idea that social movements are dependent on having a network of established organizations and instructions in place
How are parties view the opposite party
People view the opposite part as an enemy
What is a political party
A group of candidates and elected officials organized under a common label for the purpose of attaining positions of public authority
How are parties viewed by the electorate
As a psychological attachment- a perceptual filter to learn and evaluate politics through
An informational shortcut- help make sense of American political system
A running tally- stay with party as long as they preform to the liking
At any given time have a what among the population
Baseline level of support
How does gatekeeping bias affect the way media reports stories. How does it relate to Howard dean
Gatekeeping allows the media to not report on stories of a certain political nature that disagrees with their narrative or viewers
Because of Howard dean in 2004 other democratic candidates got less coverage
How does coverage bias affect the way media reports stories. How does it relate to Howard dean
Using coverage bias media limits the exposure, amount, or quality of coverage to certain types or aspects of stories
The dean scream was played by cnn 633 times
How does statement bias affect the way media reports stories how does this relate to Howard dean
State,went bias allows media to interject their own opinions and interpretations of an issue
The media was able to interpret and insinuate the dean scream meant Howard dean didn’t have the temperament for president
What factors can lead to stories getting more coverage
More blood and gore or gossip
What is horse race journalism
Journalism that focuses on polling and public perceptions rather than candidate policy
What is selective exposure
A logical offshoot of cognitive dissonance
-the avoidance of information that challenges us in the first place and seeking out information that is self-affirming of our already held beliefs
What are the three types of selective exposure
Attentive public
Polarization
Issue public
What is the attentive public hypothesis
The most interested seek out political news but others do not because of inadvertent audience
What is the polarization hypothesis
People seek out information they expect to agree with
What is the issue public hypothesis
People seek out information on issues that affect them personally
What is social desirability bias
When people don’t answer polls truthfully because their answers aren’t socially accepted.
What is an ideologue
People who agree with and are invested in every part of their party and party identity
What percentage of Americans are considered ideologies
10% of people are ideologues
What is a “population” in statistical opinion research
In statistical research, the entire group about which you want to learn
What is a “sample” in statistical opinion research
In statistical research, a subset of the population chosen to provide information for the research about the population
- the actual people surveyed-
