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federal govt > test2 > Flashcards

test2 Flashcards

1
Q

political socialization

A

The learning process by which people acquire their political opinions, beliefs, and values.

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2
Q

party identification

A

The personal sense of loyalty that an individual may feel toward a particular political party. (See also party realignment.)

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3
Q

intensity

A

An opinion dimension; how strongly people feel about an issue.

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4
Q

ideology

A

A general belief about the role and purpose of government.

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5
Q

identity politics

A

The situation where people base their concerns on a group identity (such as race or religion) and align themselves with those who share that identity to the exclusion of other groups.

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6
Q

economic liberals

A

Those who believe government should do more to assist people who have difficulty meeting their economic needs on their own. (See also economic conservatives; cultural [social] liberals; cultural [social] conservatives.)

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7
Q

economic conservatives

A

Those who believe government tries to do too many things that should be left to private interests and economic markets. (See also economic liberals; cultural [social] liberals; cultural [social] conservatives.)

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8
Q

direction

A

An opinion dimension; whether people have a pro or con opinion on an issue.

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9
Q

delegate

A

An elected representative whose obligation is to act in accordance with the expressed wishes of the people he or she represents. (See also trustee.)

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10
Q

cultural (social) liberals

A

Those who believe it is not government’s role to buttress traditional values at the expense of unconventional or new values. (See also economic liberals; economic conservatives; cultural [social] conservatives.)

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11
Q

cultural (social) conservatives

A

Those who believe government power should be used to uphold traditional values. (See also economic liberals; economic conservatives; cultural [social] liberals.)

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12
Q

political interest

A

The level of interest that a citizen has in politics; political interest is a prime determinant of whether a citizen will pay attention to politics and participate through voting.

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13
Q

a

A

a

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14
Q

candidate-centered campaigns

A

Election campaigns and other political processes in which candidates, not political parties, have most of the initiative and influence. (See also party-centered campaigns.)

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15
Q

watchdog function

A

The accepted responsibility of the media to protect the public from incompetent or corrupt officials by standing ready to expose any official who violates accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards. (See also common-carrier function; partisan function; signaling [signaler] function.)

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16
Q

signaling (signaler) function

A

The responsibility of the media to alert the public to important developments as soon as possible after they happen or are discovered. (See also common-carrier function; partisan function; watchdog function.)

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17
Q

priming

A

The way in which the context established by media messages affects how people will interpret the information they receive.

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18
Q

partisan press

A

Newspapers and other communication media that openly support a political party and whose news tends to follow the party line. (See also objective journalism.)

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19
Q

partisan function

A

Efforts by media actors to influence public response to a particular party, leader, issue, or viewpoint.

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20
Q

objective journalism

A

A model of news reporting that is based on the communication of “facts” rather than opinions and that is “fair” in that it presents all sides of partisan debate. (See also partisan press.)

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21
Q

news media (press)

A

Print, broadcast, cable, and Internet organizations that are in the news reporting business.

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22
Q

news

A

The news media’s version of reality, usually with an emphasis on timely, dramatic, and compelling events and developments.

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23
Q

low-choice media system

A

A media system in which people have a small number of news outlets available to them, which limits their choices.

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24
Q

high-choice media system

A

A media system in which audiences have such a wide range of choices that they can largely control the type of information to which they are exposed.

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25
Q

framing

A

The process by which the media play up certain aspects of a situation while downplaying other aspects, thereby providing a particular interpretation of the situation.

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26
Q

common-carrier function

A

The media’s function as an open channel through which political leaders can communicate with the public. (See also partisan function; signaling [signaler] function; watchdog function.)

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27
Q

agenda setting

A

The power of the media through news coverage to focus the public’s attention and concern on particular events, problems, issues, personalities, and so on.

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28
Q

super PACs

A

Election committees that are unrestricted in their fundraising and spending as long as they do not coordinate their campaign efforts with that of a candidate.

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29
Q

private (individual) goods

A

Benefits that a group (most often an economic group) can grant directly and exclusively to individual members of the group. (See also collective [public] goods.)

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30
Q

political action committee (PAC)

A

The organization through which an interest group raises and distributes funds for election purposes. By law, the funds must be raised through voluntary contributions.

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31
Q

outside lobbying

A

A form of lobbying in which an interest group seeks to use public pressure as a means of influencing officials.

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32
Q

lobbying

A

The process by which interest-group members and lobbyists attempt to influence public policy through contacts with public officials.

33
Q

issue network

A

An informal and relatively open network of public officials and lobbyists who come together in response to a proposed policy in an area of interest to each of them. Unlike an iron triangle, an issue network disbands after the issue is resolved. (See also iron triangle.)

34
Q

iron triangle

A

A small and informal but relatively stable group of well-positioned legislators, executives, and lobbyists who seek to promote policies beneficial to a particular interest. (See also issue network.)

35
Q

interest group

A

Any organization that actively seeks to influence public policy. (See also citizens’ [noneconomic] groups; economic groups.)

36
Q

inside lobbying

A

Direct communication between organized interests and policymakers, which is based on the assumed value of close (“inside”) contacts with policymakers.

37
Q

free-rider problem

A

The situation in which the benefits offered by a group to its members are also available to nonmembers. The incentive to join the group and to promote its cause is reduced because nonmembers (free riders) receive the benefits (for example, a cleaner environment) without having to pay any of the group’s costs. (See also collective [public] goods.)

38
Q

economic groups

A

Interest groups that are organized primarily for economic reasons but that engage in political activity in order to seek favorable policies from government. (See also citizens’ groups; interest group.)

39
Q

collective (public) goods

A

Benefits that are offered by groups (usually citizens’ groups) as an incentive for membership but that are nondivisible (such as a clean environment) and therefore are available to nonmembers as well as members of the particular group. (See also free-rider problem; private [individual] goods.)

40
Q

citizens’ groups

A

Also called noneconomic groups, organized interests formed by individuals drawn together by opportunities to promote a cause in which they believe but that does not provide them significant individual economic benefits. (See also economic groups; interest group.)

41
Q

two-party system

A

A system in which only two political parties have a chance of acquiring control of the government.

42
Q

single-member system

A

Also called a winner-take-all system or a plurality, an electoral system in which the candidate who gets the most votes (the plurality) in an election district is elected to office from that district.

43
Q

single-member districts

A

The form of representation in which only the candidate who gets the most votes in a district wins office. (See also proportional representation system.)

44
Q

proportional representation system

A

A form of representation in which seats in the legislature are allocated proportionally according to each political party’s share of the popular vote. This system enables smaller parties to compete successfully for seats. (See also single-member districts.)

45
Q

primary election

A

Also called a direct primary, a form of election in which voters choose a party’s nominees for public office. In most states, eligibility to vote in a primary election is limited to voters who designated themselves as party members when they registered to vote.

46
Q

political party

A

An ongoing coalition of interests joined together to try to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label.

47
Q

party realignments

A

Elections or sets of elections in which the electorate responds strongly to an extraordinarily powerful issue that has disrupted the established political order. A realignment has a lasting impact on public policy, popular support for the parties, and the composition of the party coalitions. (See also party identification.)

48
Q

party organizations

A

The party organizational units at national, state, and local levels; their influence has decreased over time because of many factors. (See also candidate-centered campaigns; party-centered campaigns; primary election.)

49
Q

party competition

A

A process in which conflict over society’s goals is transformed by political parties into electoral competition in which the winner gains the power to govern.

50
Q

party coalition

A

The groups and interests that support a political party.

51
Q

party-centered campaigns

A

Election campaigns and other political processes in which political parties, not individual candidates, hold most of the initiative and influence. (See also candidate-centered campaigns.)

52
Q

packaging

A

In modern campaigning, the process of recasting a candidate’s record into an appealing image.

53
Q

nomination

A

The selection of a particular individual to run as a political party’s candidate (its “nominee”) in the general election.

54
Q

multiparty system

A

A system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government, separately or in coalition.

55
Q

money chase

A

The fact that U.S. campaigns are very expensive and candidates must spend a great amount of time raising funds in order to compete successfully.

56
Q

median voter theorem

A

The theory that parties in a two-party system can maximize their vote by locating themselves at the position of the median voter—the voter whose preferences are exactly in the middle.

57
Q

linkage institutions

A

Institutions that connect citizens with government. Linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

58
Q

hard money

A

Campaign funds given directly to candidates to spend as they choose.

59
Q

grassroots party

A

A political party organized at the level of the voters and dependent on their support for its strength.

60
Q

gender gap

A

The tendency of women and men to differ in their political attitudes and voting preferences.

61
Q

suffrage

A

The right to vote.

62
Q

social capital

A

The sum of the face-to-face interactions among citizens in a society.

63
Q

registration

A

The practice of placing citizens’ names on an official list of voters before they are eligible to exercise their right to vote.

64
Q

political participation

A

Involvement in activities intended to influence public policy and leadership, such as voting, joining political groups, contacting elected officials, demonstrating for political causes, and giving money to political candidates.

65
Q

political movements

A

Also called social movements, active and sustained efforts to achieve social and political change by groups of people who feel that government has not been properly responsive to their concerns.

66
Q

civic duty

A

The belief of an individual that civic and political participation is a responsibility of citizenship.

67
Q

apathy

A

A feeling of personal disinterest in or lack of concern.

68
Q

alienation

A

A feeling of personal powerlessness that includes the notion that government does not care about the opinions of people like oneself.

69
Q

trustee

A

An elected representative whose obligation is to act in accordance with his or her own conscience as to what policies are in the best interests of the public. (See also delegate.)

70
Q

sampling error

A

A measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll, mainly a function of sample size and usually expressed in percentage terms.

71
Q

sample

A

In a public opinion poll, the relatively small number of individuals who are interviewed for the purpose of estimating the opinions of an entire population. (See also public opinion poll.)

72
Q

salience

A

An opinion dimension; how highly people rank an issue relative to other issues.

73
Q

public opinion poll

A

A device for measuring public opinion whereby a relatively small number of individuals (the sample) are interviewed for the purpose of estimating the opinions of a whole community (the population). (See also sample.)

74
Q

public opinion

A

The politically relevant opinions held by ordinary citizens that they express openly.

75
Q

population

A

In a public opinion poll, the people (for example, the citizens of a nation) whose opinions are being estimated through interviews with a sample of these people.

76
Q

agents of socialization

A

Agents, such as the family and the media, that have significant impact on citizens’ political socialization.

77
Q

political socialization

A

The learning process by which people acquire their political opinions, beliefs, and values.

78
Q

political party

A

An ongoing coalition of interests joined together to try to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label.

79
Q

low-choice media system

A

A media system in which people have a small number of news outlets available to them, which limits their choices.

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