test 2

Question 1

Public Opinions

Answer 1

Attitudes people have about issues, leaders, and political events.

Question 2

Political Socialization

Answer 2

The process by which we learn our political orientations and allegiances.
Process about which underlying political beliefs are formed. It’s transferring of basic values from one generation to the next.

Question 3

Key Agents of Socialization

Answer 3

Family, teachers, churches-religious leaders, social media influencers, peers, clubs, organizations, local govt, media in general.

Question 4

Straw Polls

Answer 4

Polls that attempt to determine who is ahead in a political race.

Question 5

Pseudo polls

Answer 5

Fake polls.
Self selection - respondent select themselves into the survey instead of being selected randomly.
Pushpolls - form of negative campaigning that masquerades as real polling, trying to elect a specific response.

Question 6

Campaign polls

Answer 6

Polling to see if candidates can win election or reelection.
Benchmark - Initial poll on a candidate to gauge now well known they are and what issues are associable to them.
Tracking Polls - measuring change in public opinions over time. parties trade narrative.
Exit polling - polls conducted on election day by parties/ or media outlets intercepting voters as they come out of the booth.

Question 7

Partisanship

Answer 7

loyalty to a political cause or party.

Question 8

Rational ignorance

Answer 8

the state of being uninformed about politics because of the cost in time and energy.

Question 9

Push polls

Answer 9

polls that ask for reactions to hypothetical, often false, information in order to manipulate public opinion.

Question 10

Exit Polls

Answer 10

Election-related questions asked for voters right after they vote.

Question 11

National Polls

Answer 11

Representative surveys from across the country.
Less useful
Increasingly, were seeing old media outlets cooperate these polls.

Question 12

Poll

Answer 12

Survey of a given population on an issue at a particular point in time.

Question 13

Literacy Digest

Answer 13

Publication conducting early presidential preference polls in an unscientific manner.

Question 14

Sampling frame

Answer 14

A designated group of people from whom a set of poll respondents is randomly selected.
Determine a population - targeting a group of people whose opinions are of interest and about whom information is desired.
Who do you want your sample to reflect?
Those living in district or state, those registered to vote, those likely to vote.

Question 15

Polling 101

Answer 15

Consider timing of survey.
Construct poll - watch for question design - framing effects and response order.
Conduct survey 1000-1500 optimum.
Determine margin of error - statistical calculation of difference in results between poll of the entire population +or- 3 points.

Question 16

Influencing our opinions

Answer 16

Sources of division or splits -
Economic self-interest
political differences come from asking what’s in it for me.

Question 17

Economic self-interest

Answer 17

Political differences come from asking what’s in it for me.

Question 18

Education

Answer 18

The more educated one is the more likely they are to vote. A number of political orientations change as a person attains more education.

Question 19

Partisanship and Ideology

Answer 19

Much of the division in contemporary American public opinion can be described in ideological (liberal or conservative) or partisan (Democrat or Republican) terms.

Question 20

Democratic enlightment

Answer 20

People’s ability to hold democratic beliefs, including the acceptance that politics is about compromise.

Question 21

Democratic engagement

Answer 21

People’s ability to understand their own interests and how to pursue those interests in govt.

Question 22

Stages of life (age)

Answer 22

The older ones are more likely to vote. Groups of people whose political views have been shaped by common events of their youth.

Question 23

Gender

Answer 23

Gender gap - tendency of women, men to differ politically esp. since 1980s. Women tend to be more liberal and men are more conservative.

Question 24

Marriage

Answer 24

Marriage gap - tendency for married people to hold opinions that differ from those who are single.

Question 25

Race and Ethnicity

Answer 25

African Americans are solidly democratic. White people are more conservative. Hispanics not as consistent there is a bigger divide. Asian Americans are more liberal.

Question 26

Religion

Answer 26

For those who religion is very important to them are more conservative and for those who religion is of little to no importance tend to be liberal.

Question 27

Geographic region

Answer 27

Where we live matters in terms of our political beliefs. A big gap is the rural-urban divide.

Question 28

Political party

Answer 28

Organization of ideologically similar people that nominates and elects its members to office in order to run the govt.

Question 29

Party Platform

Answer 29

Mission statement on what we believe and seek to do so.

Question 30

Plank

Answer 30

Party position on a specific issue.

Question 31

Two party domination

Answer 31

Dualist nature of politics. Continued political socialization into the system. Media covered debates.

Question 32

Elections

Answer 32

Symbolic importance. Chart policy direction, choose leaders, people get more involved, way to check govt, make political results more acceptable, public discontent, can stimulate public deliberation.

Question 33

Retrospective

Answer 33

Voting for a candidate because you agree or disagree with past policies. Looking backwards to see how they have performed, requires an incumbent - person already holding office.

Question 34

Prospective

Answer 34

Looking for the future, voting for a candidate because you like their positions on the issues.

Question 35

Presidential campaigns

Answer 35

Pre-primaries and caucuses tends to get underway after the midterm elections before the next presidential election. test waters “invisible primary”. raise money, position oneself, and officially announce.

Question 36

Caucus

Answer 36

a system of open local gatherings in neighborhoods where voters decide which candidates to support and select delegates.

Question 37

Closed election

Answer 37

election in which voting is limited to registered party members. Designed to bring about party unity.

Question 38

Open election

Answer 38

all registered voters can vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.

Question 39

Hard money

Answer 39

campaign funds donated directly to candidates; amounts are limited by federal election laws.

Question 40

Soft money

Answer 40

Unregulated campaign contributions by individuals, groups, or parties that promote general election activities but do not directly support individual candidates.

Question 41

Reasons for non-voting

Answer 41

unfair representation for independents. voting lowered to 18. absence of real competition in areas. people don’t care or forget. no penalty for not voting. negative campaigning.

Question 42

Hyper-partisanship

Answer 42

a commitment to a party so strong that it can transcend other commitments.

Question 43

Party machines

Answer 43

mass-based party systems in which parties provided services and resources to voters in exchange for votes.

Question 44

Patronage

Answer 44

a system in which successful party candidates reward supporters with jobs or favors.

Question 45

Realignment

Answer 45

a substantial and long-term shift in party allegiance by individuals and groups, usually resulting in a change in policy direction.

Question 46

Dealignment

Answer 46

a trend among voters to identify themselves as independents rather than as members of a major party.

Question 47

Nominating convention

Answer 47

the formal party gathering to choose candidates.

Question 48

Motor Voter Act

Answer 48

legislation allowing citizens to register to vote at the same time they apply for a driver’s license or other state benefit.

Question 49

Social connectedness

Answer 49

citizens’ involvement in groups and their relationships to their communities and families.

Question 50

Invisible primary

Answer 50

early attempts to raise money, line up campaign consultants, generate media attention, and get commitments for support even before candidates announce they are running.

Question 51

Swing voters

Answer 51

the approximately one-third of the electorate who are undecided at the start of a campaign.

Question 52

Valence issues

Answer 52

issues on which most voters and candidates share the same position.

Question 53

Position issues

Answer 53

issues on which the parties differ in their perspectives and proposed solutions.

Question 54

Wedge issues

Answer 54

a controversial issue that one party uses to split the voters in the other party.