Political Beliefs of Citizens

Question 1

What’s political socialization?

Answer 1

how citizens form their political allegiances

Question 2

What factors or cleavages are relevant when forming political opinions?

Answer 2

family, race, gender, class, religion, education, region

Question 3

Who’s more conservative based on race?

Answer 3

whites more than blacks

Question 4

Who’s more conservative based on gender?

Answer 4

men are more conservative than women

Question 5

Who’s more conservative based on class?

Answer 5

upper class voters tend to be more conservative and low-income are more liberal

Question 6

Who’s more conservative based on religion?

Answer 6

Evangelical Prostestants, then regular Protestants, then Jews and Catholics

Question 7

Who’s more conservative based on education?

Answer 7

graduate schools makes people more liberal

Question 8

Who’s more conservative based on region?

Answer 8

southerners, then mid-westerners, then east and west coasts

Question 9

general beliefs of conservatives

Answer 9

emphasize individual initiative and local solutions, HOWEVER think government should regulate abortion and school prayer

Question 10

general beliefs of liberals

Answer 10

favor change, see government as a tool for improving quality of life HOWEVER think government should have no say on abortion

Question 11

Who regulates elections in the US?

Answer 11

mostly regulated by state law

Question 12

What election responsibilities does Congress hold?

Answer 12

determining time, place, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives

Question 13

What are the 2 processess that take place in elections?

Answer 13

1. nominating candidates 2. choosing final officials

Question 14

Define primaries

Answer 14

primaries screen and select final candidates

Question 15

Define closed primaries

Answer 15

only registered voters can vote for the party’s candidates, democrats can only vote for democrats

Question 16

Define open primaries

Answer 16

voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of party, and third-parties and independents can vote as well

Question 17

Define crossover voting

Answer 17

voters can vote for candidates in other parties

Question 18

What’s the significance of these different primaries?

Answer 18

open primaries can create higher voter turnout from third-parties and independents, and it can create party crashing where voters vote for the weakest candidate in the opposing party

Question 19

When are national elections held?

Answer 19

November

Question 20

What are off-year elections?

Answer 20

voting for Congressmen only, not president

Question 21

How are political campaigns funded?

Answer 21

candidate’s own resources, private supporters, PACs, and the federal government

Question 22

Define PAC

Answer 22

political action committee, formed in 1970s to circumvent laws limiting contributions to politcal campaigns

Question 23

What’s the Federal Election Commission?

Answer 23

group formed to ensure that laws concerning campaign financing are followed

Question 24

Who pays for costs of elections and registrars of voters?

Answer 24

state and local governments

Question 25

What is the “motor-voter” bill?

Answer 25

1990s citizens could register to vote at their DMVs

Question 26

What affects political participation?

Answer 26

voters are either apathetic and don’t think they’ll have any influence, or they’re happy and see no reason to change it

Question 27

What’s an interest group?

Answer 27

any group of people who come together on an issue, either formally (labor unions or NRA) or informally (March of the Poor)

Question 28

Define lobby

Answer 28

influence the passage or defeat of legislation

Question 29

How is public opinion influenced?

Answer 29

mass media and political advertising, which is often slanted or reduced to sound bites

Question 30

How is public opinion measured?

Answer 30

public opinion polls and exit polls, which can influence voters depending on when the results are given