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Political Opinion and Culture Flashcards

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1
Q

Why did a democratic republic take place in the US? (according to Tocqueville)

A

many opportunities to acquire land and make a living

minimal taxes

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2
Q

Alexis de Tocqueville

A

French observer of American politics in the 1830s

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3
Q

political culture

A

a distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out

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4
Q

What are the five major important elements in the American view of the political system

A 
Liberty
Equality 
Democracy 
Civic Duty 
Individual Responsibility
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5
Q

Liberty

A

Americans LOVE rights
like LOVE them
believe that people should be able to do whatever they please as long as nobody gets hurt

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6
Q

Equality

A

Americans believe that everyone should have an equal vote and chance to participate and succeed

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7
Q

Democracy

A

Americans want their officials to be accountable

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8
Q

Civic Duty

A

Generally feel like people should help out their community and be active in it

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9
Q

Individual Responsibility

A

such Americanism

Individuals are responsible for their own action and well being

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10
Q

How do we know how Americans feel?

A

Polls, but they are relatively recent
Viewing what Americans are drawn to and what choices they make
comparisons to different countries

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11
Q

American creed vs behavior conflict example

A

belief in equality of opportunity vs. discrimination

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12
Q

Why is there conflict if everyone agrees?

A

Abstract beliefs remain the same, but specific policies views can be different
Sometimes values are just so not at all related
Strong beliefs and values drive conflicts

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13
Q

Americanism is evidence for

A

a common way of life

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14
Q

Did the South secede because they had a vastly different political culture full of different abstract ideals and wanted to form a fundamentally different country based on a completely different set of rules?

A

no, they used some of Constitutional language

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15
Q

Do Americans support free-enterprise?

A

Yes

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16
Q

Do people support government regulation if a firm is too powerful?

A

yes

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17
Q

True or false: Americans are more willing to tolerate political inequality than economic inequality.

A

False

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18
Q

Do Americans believe in economic equality of opportunity or economic equality of results?

A

Opportunity

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19
Q

Which of the five major values do American economic views align most closely with?

A

Individual Responsibility

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20
Q

Do Americans like hiring quotas?

A

No, they seem like preferential treatment

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21
Q

Do Americans tend to assert their rights?

A

YES

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22
Q

Civic Duty

A

belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs
Stronger in US than GB

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23
Q

Civic competence

A

A belief that one can affect politics

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24
Q

What are ways Americans participate in politics besides voting?

A

Campaigning
Attending political meetings
being active in the local community
contacting government officials

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25
Q

True or false: Americans are more trusting of government now than they used to be

A

False

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26
Q

True or false: Americans have relatively high faith in institutions(public and private) compared to people in other countries

A

true

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27
Q

Are American liberals as liberal as Swedish liberals?

A

not even close

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28
Q

Is America a religious country?

A

yessss

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29
Q

Why are Americans attracted to religion?

A

Spiritual values as well as community works

give clothes and help other people out

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30
Q

True or False: Religious beliefs transformed American political life

A

true
ex. First Great Awakening
Temperance

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31
Q

Give an example of liberals using religion to promote political change

A

religious civil rights leaders

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32
Q

Give an example of conservatives using religion to promote political change

A

1980s moral majority

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33
Q

Do Americans mention religion more in politics?

A

YES

in a degree that is completely unmatched by other democracies

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34
Q

What are the roots of American distrust?

A
  1. British rule

2. Religious belief that human nature is depraved

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35
Q

First test of American politics and the ability of governmental cooperation

A

Federalists vs. Antifederalists / (Jefferson vs. Hamilton)

People accepted opposition party

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36
Q

Which two religious groups historically caused cleavage in politics?

A

Puritans [work ethic] vs. Catholics [Sacraments and priestly authority]
also choice of political party and a bunch of other stuff

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37
Q

Churches were controlled by ________

This made them akin to ___________

A

their members

a mini politcal system

38
Q

What is the main system of culture transmission?

A

Family

39
Q

class consciousness

A

A belief that you are a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to people in other groups
not very present in America
think that guy form Britain

40
Q

Orthodox

A

A belief that morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance
These are determined by religion and nature and are constant

41
Q

Progressive

A

A belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion

42
Q

Are all people who hold orthodox views religious?

A

Nope

43
Q

Has the scope of the culture war gotten bigger?

A

Yes, because of the internet and mass media as well as the fact that not everyone is orthodox

44
Q

Do Americans support public officials?

Have they always felt this way?

A

no

no (like they used to consistently but then by 1980 it was over)

45
Q

Why do Americans not trust officials as much as they used to?

A

Vietnam
Watergate
Clinton Impeachment

Additionally, in the past, there were some really confidence inspiring things(like FDR and Eisenhower era) /people expected less

46
Q

What made Americans more aware of problems currently on the national agenda/when?

A

1960s and 70s
turmoil and new concerns
people felt like gov couldn’t do anything because problems were so big
Patriotism not expressed as often

47
Q

Political efficacy

A

A belief that you can take part in politics (internal efficacy) or that the government will respond to the citizenry (external efficacy)

48
Q

internal efficacy

A

the ability to take part in and understand political affairs

49
Q

external efficacy

A

the ability to make the system respond to the citizenry

50
Q

Which type of efficacy, external or internal, has been on the decline?

A

external efficacy

51
Q

Who has a higher sense of efficacy Americans or Europeans?

A

Americans

52
Q

Do Americans support free speech, majority rule, and the right to petition?

A

In theory and in the abstract they LOVE them

however, on a case by case basis, not so much

53
Q

True or False Americans have become more tolerant

A

True

54
Q

How come groups that others would like to deny things like free speech to still exist?

A

people don’t act on those ideas

55
Q

public opinion

A

how people think or feel about certain things

56
Q

Is public opinion easy to measure?

A

No

ex. Monetary Control Bill

57
Q

When people are unfamiliar with a topic, can they generally figure out who will represent their interests??

A

yes

58
Q

poll

A

a survey of public opinion

59
Q

random sample

A

Method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

60
Q

Sampling error

A

the difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time

61
Q

Exit polls

A

polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters

62
Q

What are some things essential to good polls?

A

wording questions fairly
Asking comprehensible questions that people can form opinions on
and like more

63
Q

stratified or multistage area sampling

A

a list of all geographical units are made and they are grouped by population size
random units are then selected in proportion

64
Q

opinion saliency

A

some people care more about issues than others

65
Q

opinion stability

A

some issues have relatively consistent opinions, while others have volatile ones.

66
Q

opinion-policy congruence

A

some issues see government and popular opinion going hand in hand, other times out of sync

67
Q

political socialization

A

Process by which background traits influence one’s politics

68
Q

Elite

A

People who have a disproportionate amount of some valued resource

69
Q

True or false: most young people identify with their parents on parties

A

true

70
Q

gender gap

A

difference in political views between men and women

71
Q

True or false: the voting behavior of women has changed since the 1960s

A

false

72
Q

What are the largest reasons for the gender gap?

A

size of the government
gun control
spending programs aimed at the poor
gay rights

73
Q

True or false: college makes you more liberal

A

true

74
Q

Have people of different social classes become more or less similar(in terms of opinion)?

A

More

75
Q

True or false: More african american youths are identifying as republican

A

true -

76
Q

True or false: the South is more conservative than other regions

A

True, but this is generally on more social issues, and they are close to other regions of the country

77
Q

political ideology

A

A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue

78
Q

How is the extent of ideology measured?

A
  1. Through people’s use of broad political words to describe themselves or their actions
  2. Seeing the policy preferences of certain people over time and if they are consistent [Math!}
79
Q

True or false: Moderates are the smallest group in American politics

A

false, they are the largest and liberals are the smallest

80
Q

Since most Americans do not identify as conservative or liberal, are they not ideological?

A

No, Americans are very ideological, they just don’t use these words to describe themselves
Also, people are seemingly inconsistent, which means that they don’t follow the classic examples of liberals or conservatives. They really are just not defined by a single label

81
Q

liberal

A

originally, someone who valued social and economic liberty

FDR made it someone who wanted an active gov

82
Q

Conservative

A

orginially someone who was against the excesses of the French Revolution and wanted the state, church, and aristocracy to come back to power

83
Q

Pure liberals

A

liberal economically and socially
gov reduce economic inequality, regulate biz, tax rich, stop econ causes of crime, allow abortions, protect righst

Generally college educated, young, and not religious

84
Q

Pure Conservatives

A

Conservative socially and economically
want gov to cut back on welfare state, let the market be the market, keep low taxes, use prisons

Generally older, higher income, white, Midwest

85
Q

Libertarians

A

Economically conservative but socially liberal
small weak government that can not control economy or personal life

Generally young, college educated, white, western, higher income, and not religious

86
Q

Populists

A

Liberal on economic policy but socially conservative
want econ inequality reduced but also regulate personal conduct and allow school prayer

Generally older, less educated, low-income, religious, female, South or Midwest

87
Q

Political Elites

A

People with a disproportionate share of political power

88
Q

Why are elites more ideological?

A
  1. information
    better informed and, if they take an interest, very likely to keep views
  2. peers
    the more time spent in politics, the more you associate with people who are similar to you, which leads to your views matching theirs more
89
Q

norm

A

a standard of right or proper conduct

90
Q

Do elites have a large or small effect on the public?

A

large

91
Q

What are limits on the power of the elites?

A

do not define problems: people can see them on their onw
little evidence on what people think is a problem on crimes or drugs

works well for foreign policy

Gov (13 decks)

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