Lesson 10 Flashcards
What percentage of the U.S. population is white? Black? Hispanic? Native American? Asian?
White: 64% Black: 12% Hispanic: 16% Native American: 1% Asian: 5%
When is the white population of the United States forecast to become “majority minority”?
2044
What is “majority minority?”
population of whites drops below 50%, but are still largest among minority
How do whites affiliate politically? Blacks? Hispanics? Native American? Asians?
Whites- Slight preference for Republican
Blacks- Strong preference for Democrat
Hispanic- Regular preference for Democrat
Native American- neutral
Asian- Slight preference for Democrat
What is the fastest growing age group in America?
65+, senior citizens
What age group has the lowest voting rate? Highest?
L: 18-24
H: 65+
What major population shift has taken place in the United States over the last 40-50 years?
Major shift to West and South in population
Give 2 examples of your location (the place where you live and work) actively influencing your political beliefs?
- living in a swing state
- Butler County is overwhelmingly Republican
Define Political Socialization
a lifelong process by which people form their ideas about politics and acquire political values
What are the three primary agents of political socialization? Which is the most influential?
- family, school, mass media
- family
Why do you think political opinions harden as a person ages?
combination of life experience and a whole past history of political participation and belief that narrow how a person thinks politically
When and by whom was public opinion polling professionalized?
- 1932
- George Gallup
In order for political polls to be accurate they must be…
- random
- representative
- as neutrally worded as possible.
What are the various ways in which political polls can be used?
- to predict outcome of a political race
- used by politicians to guide their voting in Congress
- can create the Bandwagon Effect
What is an exit poll? Why are exit polls heavily criticized?
- Poll of people that are leaving and getting asked who they voted for
- Could influence election results
Relative to citizens of other developed democracies, do Americans have high or low levels of political knowledge?
Low
True or False. Increased education and increased availability of information over the last several decades have increased Americans’ political knowledge.
False
Define political ideology.
Political belief system
What percentage of Americans currently identify as conservative? Liberal? Moderate? Democrat? Republican? Independent?
C: 40% L: 20% M: 40% D: 30% R: 25% I: 43%
In politics, to what does the gender gap refer?
Women tend to prefer Democratic party, men prefer Republican
The American Voter Study
1950s study that separated American voters into four different categories: ideologue, group benefits, nature of the times, no issue content.
According to the American Voter Study, what percentage of Americans belong to each category?
Ideologue: 12%
Group benefits: 42%
Nature of the times: 24%
No issue content: 22%
What is the average voter turnout rate in U.S. presidential elections?
55%
Give an example of conventional political participation.
Voting
Give an example of unconventional political participation.
Protesting
What does it mean to say that political participation in the United States is a class-biased activity?
The people who have the most time and resources also participate the most
What is civil disobedience?
- involves breaking the law bc you believe it’s a bad law
- accepting consequences
Describe the Republican voting bloc.(5)
- white men
- people from rural areas
- strong religious conservatives
- mormons
- southerners
Describe the Democratic voting bloc.
- Women
- Blacks
- Hispanics
- Asians
- Millennials
- Non-religious people
- Urban dwellers
- Those who identify as Jewish
What does it mean o say that Americans are ideological conservatives, but operational liberals ?
This means that many Americans say they are conservative and like to believe they are, but when it comes to specific government programs, they turn out to be pretty liberal.
What does it mean to say that Americans are very well socialized to democracy?
- We understand what democracy is, how it works, and how to be comfortable in a democratic society.
- we are used to it
- we like it so much that it rarely ever gets questioned in political debates
