Unit 2: chapters 6, 9, 10

Question 1

political culture

Answer 1

an overall set of values widely shared within a society.

Question 2

minority majority

Answer 2

the emergence of a non-caucasian majority, as compared with a white, generally anglo-saxon majority. it is predicted that, by about 2060, hispanic americans, african americans, and asian americans will together outnumber white americans.

Question 3

sampling error

Answer 3

the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. the more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the results.

Question 4

random sampling

Answer 4

the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample.

Question 5

sample

Answer 5

a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole.

Question 6

reapportionment

Answer 6

the process of reallocating seats in the house of representatives every ten years on the basis of the results of the census.

Question 7

random digit dialing

Answer 7

a technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey.

Question 8

melting pot

Answer 8

the mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the american nation. the united states, with its history of immigration, has often been called a melting pot.

Question 9

gender gap

Answer 9

a term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to be significantly less conservative than men and are more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending.

Question 10

protest

Answer 10

a form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics.

Question 11

civil disobedience

Answer 11

a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.

Question 12

political participation

Answer 12

all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. the most common, but not the only, means of political participation in a democracy is voting. other means include protest and civil disobedience.

Question 13

political ideology

Answer 13

a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. it helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies.

Question 14

exit poll

Answer 14

public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision.

Question 15

political specialization

Answer 15

according to richard dawson, “the process through which an individual acquires his [or her] particular political orientations – his [or her] knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his [or her] political world.

Question 16

census

Answer 16

a valuable tool for understanding demographic changes. the constitution requires that the government conduct an “actual enumeration” of the population every ten years.

Question 17

demography

Answer 17

the science of population changes.

Question 18

public opinion

Answer 18

the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues.

Question 19

superdelegates

Answer 19

national party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the democratic national party convention.

Question 20

matching funds

Answer 20

contributions of up to $250 are matched from the presidential election campaign fund to candidates for the presidential nomination who qualify and agree to meet various conditions, such as limiting their overall spending.

Question 21

party platform

Answer 21

a political party’s statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. the platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate’s strength. it is the best formal statement of what a party believes in.

Question 22

presidential election campaign fund

Answer 22

money from the $3 federal income tax check-off goes into this fund, which is then distributed to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential campaigns.

Question 23

federal election campaign act

Answer 23

a law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances. the act created the federal election commission (fec), provided public financing for presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions.

Question 24

direct mail

Answer 24

a high-tech method if raising money for a political cause or candidate. it involves sending information and requests for money to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past.

Question 25

regional primaries

Answer 25

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries to replace these electoral methods with a series of primaries held in each geographic region.

Question 26

national primary

Answer 26

a proposal by critics of the caucuses and presidential primaries systems who would replace these electoral methods with a nationwide primary held early in the election year.

Question 27

frontloading

Answer 27

the recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention. at one time, it was considered advantageous for a state to choose its delegates late in the primary season so that it could play a decisive role. however, in recent years, voters cast in states that have held late primaries have been irrelevant given that one candidate had already sewn up the nomination early on.

Question 28

527 groups

Answer 28

independent groups that seek to influence the political process but are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. their name comes from section 527 of the federal tax code, under which they are governed. in 2004, 52 individuals gave over a million dollars to such groups, and all told they spent $424m on political messages.

Question 29

nomination

Answer 29

the official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party. generally, success in the nomination requires momentum, money, and media attention.

Question 30

selective perception

Answer 30

the phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions.

Question 31

national party convention

Answer 31

the supreme power within each of the parties. the convention meets every four years to nominate the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidate’s and to write the party’s platform.

Question 32

campaign strategy

Answer 32

the master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign.

Question 33

political action committees (pacs)

Answer 33

funding vehicles created by the 1974 campaign finance reforms. a corporation, union, or some other interest group can create a pac and register it with the federal election commission (fec), which will meticulously monitor the pac’s expenditures.

Question 34

presidential primaries

Answer 34

elections in which voters in a state vote for a candidate (or delegates pledged to him or her). most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way.

Question 35

caucus

Answer 35

(congressional) = a group of members of congress sharing some interest or characteristic. most are composed of members from both parties.

(state party) = a meeting of all state party leaders for selecting delegates to the national party convention. caucuses are usually organized as a pyramid.

Question 36

mcgovern-fraser commission

Answer 36

a commission formed at the 1968 democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation.

Question 37

federal election commission (fec)

Answer 37

a six member bipartisan agency created by the federal election campaign act of 1974. the fec administers the campaign finance laws and enforces compliance with their requirements.

Question 38

soft money

Answer 38

political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level (or for generic party advertising). unlike money that goes to the campaign of a particular candidate, such party donations are not subject to contribution limits.

Question 39

suffrage

Answer 39

the legal right to vote, extended to african americans by the 15th amendment, to women by the 19th amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the 26th amendment.

Question 40

civic duty

Answer 40

the belief that in order to support a democratic government, a citizen should always vote.

Question 41

policy voting

Answer 41

electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters’ policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues.

Question 42

retrospective voting

Answer 42

a theory of voting in which voters essentially ask this simple question: “what have you done for me lately?”

Question 43

electoral college

Answer 43

an unique american institution created by the constitution that provides for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties. although the electoral college vote usually reflects a popular majority, the winner-take-all rule gives clout to big states.

Question 44

mandate theory of elections.

Answer 44

the idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. politicians like the theory better than political scientists do.

Question 45

political efficacy

Answer 45

the belief that one’s political participation really matters – that one’s vote can actually make a difference.

Question 46

initiative petition

Answer 46

a process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions calling for such s referendum.

Question 47

referendum

Answer 47

a state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve or disapprove legislation or a constitutional amendment proposed by the state legislatures.

Question 48

legitimacy

Answer 48

a characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders. when legitimacy is high, as in the united states, even the losers accept the results peacefully.