Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

AP Government > Unit 2 (Ch. 11, 15, 16) > Flashcards

Unit 2 (Ch. 11, 15, 16) Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
U.S. Government Basics flashcards AP® U.S. Government flashcards American Government 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is public opinion?

A

How the public feels about a particular issue or set of issues at any given time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How many people do national polls usually survey?

A

1500

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Define demography.

A

The composition of a particular human population, the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, race, gender, etc.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is political socialization?

A

The process through which individuals acquire their political beliefs and values

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What affects political socialization?

A

Family, gender, peers, school, media, religion, region, race, and age

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How is public opinion measured?

A

Election results, personal contacts, media reporting, and polling

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is political ideology?

A

The coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How do we predict how people will vote?

A

Polling

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the most common polling methods?

A

Straw polls, exit polls, tracking polls, entrance polls, and push polls

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Which types of people are most likely to vote Democrat?

A

Unmarried women, Jewish people, middle class, cities, labor unions, younger voters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Which types of people are most likely to vote Republican?

A

White males, elderly, suburbs, upper class, Mormons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What do Conservatives believe in?

A

Limited government involvement, big government will infringe on personal and economic rights

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What do Liberals believe in?

A

Favor interventionist government, social services, and the protection of minorities, women, elderly, environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How do men and women differ on political issues?

A

Women tend to be more liberal and favor government assistance and limited military intervention

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Describe Literary Digest and the 1936 presidential election.

A

Predicted that Alfred M. Landon would beat FDR, but FDR won in a landslide vote
Inaccurately predicted the winner because it only asked automobile owners in a voluntary response straw poll too far in advance to the election

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Describe the outcome of the 1948 presidential election.

A

Gallup and other pollsters inaccurately predicted that Thomas E. Dewey would beat Harry S. Truman

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Who is George Gallup?

A

Founder of scientific polling methods and Gallup Poll

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is the typical accepted sampling error range?

A

Plus or minus 3%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Describe push polls.

A

Push polls have strongly worded questions that influence that respondent to answer in favor of the surveyor’s opinion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Describe tracking polls.

A

Continuous polls that allow campaigns to track its daily changes in support

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Describe exit polls.

A

Polls that ask voters how they voted as the leave specific polling locations on Election Day

22
Q

What is intensity in context of polling?

A

How strongly someone feels about what they are responding to

23
Q

What is stability in context of polling?

A

How likely someone is to change their opinion

24
Q

What is relevance in context of polling?

A

How important an opinion is to the person who holds it

25
Q

What is Federalist #10?

A

James Madison’s essay about controlling the influence of special interests by decentralizing power, accomplished by dividing power between the federal, state, and local level

26
Q

What is an interest group?

A

A group that tries to influence public policy in a specific way

27
Q

What are the theories on how interest groups form?

A

Pluralist theory, disturbance theory, transaction theory, population ecology theory

28
Q

Define pluralist theory.

A

Political power is distributed among a wide variety of competing interest groups.

29
Q

Define disturbance theory.

A

Interest groups arise in opposition to upheavals in politics or in opposition to other groups

30
Q

Define transaction theory.

A

Public policies are the result of narrowly defined transactions between political actors

31
Q

Define population ecology theory.

A

The life of a political interest group is dependent on the people and resources available in the area

32
Q

What are the types of interest groups?

A

Public interest groups, economic interest groups, professional interest groups

33
Q

What are public interest groups?

A

Groups that look out for the well being of people, not just its members

34
Q

What are economic interest groups?

A

Groups that seek to make a profit and promote the financial benefit of its members

35
Q

What are professional interest groups?

A

Groups that seek to maintain standards of the profession, hold meetings, and publish journals

36
Q

How do SIGs influence public policy?

A 
Increase the cost of public policy
Grass roots
Direct lobbying
Coalition lobbying
Litigation
Going public
Candidate recruitment/endorsement
Getting out the vote
Rating the candidate’s office
Political action committees (PACs)
37
Q

What are amicus curiae briefs?

A

When a case that a group is interested but not involved in reaches the court, groups will file an amicus brief to inform the court of the group’s preference on the ruling

38
Q

How did Mancur Olson feel about special interest groups?

A

Individuals will not mobilize into groups
Individuals are perfectly informed
It makes little sense for people to join groups when they can reap the benefits without being a member, creating the “free rider” problem
Small groups are more likely to form since social pressures make it harder to be free riders

39
Q

Define the “free rider” problem.

A

People refrain from joining special interest groups or unions because if the group wins the cause without them joining, they will still reap the benefit without having to be a member

40
Q

Describe the New York Times v. Supreme Court Case

A

The Nixon Administration tried to restrain the New York Times from publishing the “Pentagon Papers” on the grounds that it was a matter of national security.
The Supreme Court ruled that because it did not pose any imminent danger the US, withholding the papers was in violation of the First Amendment

41
Q

What is the Telecommunications Act of 1996?

A

Resulted in merging of previously different kinds of media to form multimedia conglomerates like Time Warner Cable

42
Q

What is the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007?

A

Banned gifts to Congress and congressional staff
Toughened disclosure requirements
Increased the time limit set for an item to move from the Congressional floor to the private sector

43
Q

How does the government regulate the media?

A

Technical regulations, structural regulations, and content regulations

44
Q

What is the Federal Communications Act of 1934?

A

Created the FCC to regulate radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable, and satellite communication

45
Q

What is yellow journalism?

A

Journalism that is full of overly sensationalized and exaggerated details and stories

46
Q

What is muckraking?

A

Journalism that is aimed to expose wrongdoings of a particular group or person

47
Q

How has organized labor changed in the last 50 years?

A

Power has dwindled due to the internal split of the labor unions and the shift of workers from manufacturing to white-collar jobs
Power has declined also due to the free rider problem

48
Q

Who was the first president to effectively use radio?

A

Calvin Coolidge was the first to appear on the radio, but FDR was the first to regularly use it

49
Q

What is the Lobbying Disclosure Act?

A

Passed in 1995
Passed stricter lobbying regulations
Required lobbying groups that were direct at members of Congress, congressional staff, or executive branch policymakers to register

50
Q

What is agenda setting?

A

The ability to influence what subjects become national-political issues

AP Government (8 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions