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Political Science > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

Public opinion

A

The collective beliefs of individuals on issues

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2
Q

Why is public opinion important?

A

Normative we believe the public should influence what government does
empirical people behave as if public opinion does matter

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3
Q

Elitists

A

Citizens are too dumb to be trusted with important positions

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4
Q

Pluralists

A

Trusts groups of citizens to make decisions but says that they don’t have enough time to be informed

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5
Q

Participatory

A

Think people are smart enough and informed enough to make decisions

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6
Q

Ideal democratic citizen versus apolitical self interested actors

A

Ideal is concern for the common good

Apolitical unlikely to get involved in political life they only want what’s best for them

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7
Q

Uniformed citizens versus activists citizens

A

Uniformed citizens are more tolerant

Activists are intolerant

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8
Q

How to Americans look when it comes to tolerance

A

They agree with freedom of speech and religion and equality but when it comes to applying these beliefs their tolerance drops

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9
Q

Tolerance and education?

A

Political tolerance increases with education

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10
Q

What influences our views on politics

A 
Socialization 
Self interest
Ideology 
Education
Demographics
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11
Q

How we get politically socialized

A

Family
Schools
Groups
Political ad social events

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12
Q

Spiral of silence

A

Where the majority opinion becomes exaggerated because minorities do not feel comfortable disagreeing

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13
Q

Partisan sorting

A

When citizens align themselves with one of the two parties leaving no one in the middle

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14
Q

Political generations

A

Citizens whose political views have been shaped by the common events of their youth

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15
Q

Marriage gap

A

The tendency for married people to hold political opinions that differ from those who have never been married

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16
Q

What divideds public opinion

A 
Self interest
Ideology
Education
Age
Gender
Race
Religion
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17
Q

Straw polls

A

Polls that try and determine who is ahead in a political race

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18
Q

How to create a good poll

A

Getting a good sample

Asking good questions

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19
Q

How to ask the right questions

A

Ask questions people know about
Shouldn’t be ambiguous
Questions that don’t yield a specific answer

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20
Q

Types of polls

A

National polls
Campaign polls
Pseudo polls
Survey experiments

21
Q

Benchmark poll

A

Baseline information on how well the candidate is known

22
Q

Tracking polls

A

Surveys that follow changes in public opinion overtime

23
Q

Exit polls

A

Questions asked of voters right after they vote

24
Q

Psudeo polls

A

Polls that aren’t random, they provide misleading information

25
Q

Push polls

A

Present false information in a hypothetical form and ask respondents to react to it

26
Q

Survey experiments

A

Studies conducted to find out how respondents feel towards a specific topic

27
Q

Rational ignorance

A

The state of being uninformed about politics because of the cost in time and energy

28
Q

On line processing

A

Receiving and evaluating information, but when asked why you chose the way you did you cant remember but you know there is a reason

29
Q

Two step flow of information

A

When citizens take their political cues from well informed opinion leaders

30
Q

Opinion leaders

A

People who know more about certain topics than we do and whose advice we trust

31
Q

Plebiscite

A

Popular vote on a policy

32
Q

Party in government

A

Members of the party who have been elected to serve in government

33
Q

Party in the electorate

A

Ordinary citizens who identify with a party

34
Q

Party base

A

Members of a political party who always vote for that party’s candidates

35
Q

What is the role of parties in a democracy

A

Political linkage
Unification of a fragmented government
A voice for the opposition

36
Q

Responsible party model

A 
Party of government when 4 conditions are met:
Clear choice of ideologies 
Candidates implementing ideas
Party held accountable 
Party control of members
37
Q

Party platform

A

The national party’s campaigns promises. A list of policy positions the party pledges to enact as a policy

38
Q

What is a force drawing parties towards extremism?

A

Party activists who offer money and support if their wants are supported

39
Q

What pushes parties toward moderation

A

The fact that the party that appeals best to the moderate and independent voters usually wins most of the votes

40
Q

Party machines

A

Party systems where parties provided services and recourses to voters in exchange for votes

41
Q

Patronage

A

System where winning candidates reward supports with jobs or favors

42
Q

Party eras

A

Periods of stability where one party controls both the presidency and the congress

43
Q

Critical election

A

And election signaling mass change from one party affiliation to another

44
Q

Realignment

A

A shift in party affiliation which usually results in change in policy direction

45
Q

Dealignment

A

A trend where voters identify themselves as independents rather than members of a major party

46
Q

Electioneering

A

The process of getting a person elected to public office

47
Q

In electioneering what are the steps of getting someone elected to office

A

Recruiting candidates
Nominating candidates
Defining policy agenda
General elections

48
Q

Soft money

A

Unregulated campaign contributions by individuals that promote election activities but do not directly support and individual candidate

Political Science (2 decks)

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