Political Culture & Political Opinion

Question 1

Political Culture

Answer 1

Broadly shared way of thinking bout political and economic life that reflects fundamental assumptions about how government should operate. It is distinct from political ideology, which refers to a more or less consistent set of views about the policies government ought to follow. Up to a point people sharing a common political culture can disagree about ideology.

Question 2

Political Ideology

Answer 2

A more or less consistent set of views as to the policies government ought of pursue.

Question 3

Equality of Opportunity

Answer 3

View that it is wrong to use race or sex either to discriminate against or give preferential treatment to minorities or women.

Question 4

Civic Duty

Answer 4

Belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs.

Question 5

Progressive Culture

Answer 5

Political philosophy advocation or favoring gradual social, political, and economic reform.

Question 6

Orthodox Culture

Answer 6

Political attitude favoring tradition

Question 7

Political Efficacy

Answer 7

A citizen’s belief that he or she can understand and influence political affairs. This sense is divided into two parts-internal efficacy (confidence in a citizen’s own abilities to understand and take part in political affairs) and external efficacy (a belief that the system will respond a citizen’s demands)

Question 8

Middle America

Answer 8

A phrase coined by Joseph Kraft in a 1968 newspaper column to refer to Americans who have moved out of poverty but are not yet affluent and who cherish traditional middle-class values.

Question 9

Silent Majority

Answer 9

A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who upheld traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960s.

Question 10

Social Status

Answer 10

A measure of one’s social standing obtained by combining factors such as education, income, and occupation.

Question 11

Christian Coalition

Answer 11

Right wing political pressure group founded in 1989

Question 12

Gender gap

Answer 12

Differences in the political views and voting behavior of men and women

Question 13

Liberal

Answer 13

In general, a person who favors a more active federal government for regulating business, supporting social welfare, and protecting minority rights, but who prefers less regulation of private social conduct.

Question 14

Conservative

Answer 14

In general a person who favors more limited and local government, less government regulation of markets, more social conformity to traditional norms and values, and tougher policies toward criminals.

Question 15

Libertarian

Answer 15

People who wish to maximize personal liberty on both economic and social issues. They prefer a small, weak government that has little control over either the economy or the personal lives of citizens.

Question 16

Populist

Answer 16

People who hold liberal views on economic matters and conservative ones on social matters. They prefer a strong government that will reduce economic inequality, regulate businesses, and impose stricter social and criminal sanctions. The name and views have their origins in an agriculturally based social movement and party of the 1880s and 1890s that sought to curb the power of influentials economic interests.

Question 17

Political Elite

Answer 17

(see elite)

Elite- An identifiable group of persons who posses a disproportionate share of some valued resource - such as money or political power.

Question 18

New Class

Answer 18

Privileged ruling bureaucrats and communist party fundionalists

Question 19

New Deal Coalition

Answer 19

The alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the Democrats and New Deal

Question 20

Random Sampling

Answer 20

A sample selected in such a way that any member of the population being surveyed has an equal chance of being interviewed.

Question 21

Sampling Error

Answer 21

Differences between the results of two surveys or samples. For example, if one random sample shows that 60 percents of all Americans like cats and another random sample taken at the same time shows that 65 percent do, the sampling error is 5 percent.

Question 22

Focus Groups

Answer 22

Form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perception, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea or packaging.

Question 23

Instant Response Polling

Answer 23

A type of polling currently being used by the media and online –> instant results

Question 24

Push Polls

Answer 24

Type of poll in which an organization attempts to influence people under the guise of conducting a poll

Question 25

Bandwagon Effect

Answer 25

“copycat” behavior; people often do things because other people do them

Question 26

Refusal Rate

Answer 26

Proportion of individuals who refuse to give the information sought

Question 27

Exit Polls

Answer 27

Poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited polling stations

Question 28

Tracking Polls

Answer 28

Poll conducted each day to asses trends caused by new advertising, public events, etc.

Question 29

Skewed Questions

Answer 29

Question which creates incorrect results; often worded oddly, etc

Question 30

Context Effect

Answer 30

People behave differently in different situations because context is significant in decision making

Question 31

Question Framing

Answer 31

How you, as surveyor, decide to ask for data

Question 32

Saliency

Answer 32

Quality or state of being; a striking point or feature

Question 33

Literacy Test

Answer 33

Requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. It was established by many states to prevent former slaves from voting. Illiterate whites were allowed to vote by a “grandfather clause” added to the law saying that a person could vote, even though he did not meet the legal requirements, if he or his ancestors voted before 1867.

Question 34

Poll Tax

Answer 34

Requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote. It was adopted by many states to prevent former slaves from voting. It is now unconstitutional.

Question 35

Grandfather Cause

Answer 35

Clause added to registration laws allowing people who did not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867. This was to exempt poor and illiterate whites from registration requirements established to keep former slaves from voting. Supreme Court declared the practice unconstitutional in 1915.

Question 36

White Primary

Answer 36

The practice of keeping African Americans from voting in primary elections through arbitrary implementation of registration requirements and intimidation. Such practices were declared unconstitutional in 1944.

Question 37

Disfranchisement

Answer 37

The revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people, or rendering a person’s vote less effective, or ineffective. May occur explicitly through law, or implicitly by intimidation or by placing unreasonable requirements.

Question 38

Australian Ballot

Answer 38

A government-printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret that was adopted by many states around 1890 in order to reduce the voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public.

Question 39

Activist

Answer 39

Individuals, usually outside of government, who actively promote a political party, philosophy, or issue they care about