media and public opinion

Question 1

high-tech politics:

Answer 1

in which the behavior of the citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology

Question 2

Mass media:

Answer 2

television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet, and other means of popular communication

Question 3

Media event:

Answer 3

events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous

Question 4

Press conference:

Answer 4

meetings of public officials with reporters

Question 5

Investigative journalism:

Answer 5

the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders

Question 6

Print media:

Answer 6

newspapers and magazines

Question 7

Broadcast media:

Answer 7

television, radio, and the Internet

Question 8

Narrowcasting:

Answer 8

media programming on cable TV or the internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience (e.g.: CSPAN)

Question 9

Chains:

Answer 9

newspapers published by massive media conglomerates that account for over four-fifths of the nation’s daily newspaper circulation

Question 10

Beats:

Answer 10

specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House

Question 11

Trial balloons:

Answer 11

an intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction

Question 12

Sound bites:

Answer 12

short video clips of approximately ten seconds; highlights of a politician’s speech

Question 13

Talking head:

Answer 13

a shot of a person’s face talking directly to the camera

Question 14

Policy agenda:

Answer 14

the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politic at the time

Question 15

Policy entrepreneurs:

Answer 15

people who invest their political capital

Question 16

Public opinion:

Answer 16

the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues

Question 17

Demography:

Answer 17

the science of population changes

Question 18

Census:

Answer 18

a valuable tool for understanding demographic changes

Question 19

Melting pot:

Answer 19

the mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation

Question 20

Minority majority:

Answer 20

the emergence of a non-caucasian majority

Question 21

Political culture:

Answer 21

an overall set of values widely shared within a society

Question 22

Reapportionment:

Answer 22

the process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census

Question 23

Political socialization:

Answer 23

the process through which a young person acquires political orientations as they grow up, based on inputs from parents, teachers, the media, and friends

Question 24

sample of the population:

Answer 24

a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole

Question 25

Random polling:

Answer 25

the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample

Question 26

Sampling error:

Answer 26

the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll

Question 27

Exit poll:

Answer 27

public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision

Question 28

Political ideology: =

Answer 28

a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose

Question 29

Gender gap: =

Answer 29

a term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates

Question 30

Political participation:

Answer 30

all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders of the policies they pursue; most common is voting

Question 31

Protest:

Answer 31

a form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics

Question 32

Civil disobedience:

Answer 32

a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences