unit 2: political participation Flashcards
public opinion
how people think or feel about particular things
how did founding fathers view public opinion
-believed thataverage citizens lacked the inofrmation engery and inrestest to decide on public policy
-used representatives and senators as a buffer for the rash ad undecuated desicions of the people
framers didn’t create government that would do what the people want but rather..
created a government that could reach a set of goals as highlighted in the preamble to the constitution
poll
a survey of public opinion
random sampling
method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected
sampling error
the difference between results of random samples taken at the same time
exit polls
polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters
question wording
the way in which survey questions are phrased, which influences how respondents answer them
in order to make a valid conclusion from a poll…
you need a properly drawn sample and carefully worded questions
3 main factors that drive public opinion
political socialization, demographic factors, individual’s partisanship
political socialization
the process by which one’s family influences their political views
impressionable years hypothesis
this is the idea that political experiences during the teens and early 20s powerfully shape attitudes for the rest of the life cycle
it’s not that younger people are more liberal and older are more conservative…
it’s the time period and the party who held power during the generation’s impressionable years
gender gap
difference in political views between men and women
partisanship
an individuals identification with a party
party sorting
the alignment of partisanship and issue positions so that democrats tend to take more liberal positions and republicans tend to take more conservative ones
political ideology
a more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue
democrat or republican is to partisanship as liberal and conservative are too…
political ideology
political elites
persons with a disproportionate share of political power
heuristics
informational shortcuts used by voters to make a decision
political participation
the many different ways that people take part in politics and government
voting-age population
citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching the minimum age requirement
voting-eligible population
citizens who have reached the minimum age to be able to vote, excluding those who are not legally permitted to cast a ballot
literacy test
a requirement that citizens show that they can read before registering to vote
poll tax
a requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote
grandfather clause
a clause in registration allowing people who do not meet requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867
white primary
the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidations
despite the passing of the 15th amendment..
blacks were still prevented from voting with:
-literacy tests
-poll taxes
-white primaries
Australian ballot
-a government-printed ballot of uniform dimensions to be cast in secret that many states
-adopted around 1890 to reduce voting fraud associated with party printed ballots cast in public
voter identification laws
laws requiring citizens to show a government issued photo ID in order to vote
activists
people who tend to participate in all forms of politics
opinion polls
polls that measure public opinion on various issues
benchmark polls
polls that create baseline views of candidates
tracking polls
polls that follow how views of candidates change during campaigning
exit polls
polls that ask people why they voted the way they did
political efficacy
the belief that ordinary citizens can influence what the government does
the 5 important elements of the american political system
liberty, equality, democracy, individual responsibility, civic duty (let’s, eat, dry, ice, cream)
liberty
preoccupied with rights
equality
equal chance to succeed/participate in politics
democracy
americans think officials should be accountable
civic duty
people ought to take community affairs seriously
individual responsibiblity
barring a disability, individuals are responsible for their own actions
orthodox cultural class
believes that morality and religion should be of decisive importance
progressive cultural class
believes that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion
the orthodox-progressive cultural war differs from political disputes because…
money is not at stake and compromises are almost impossible since it is lead by deep differences by peoples beliefs about private and public morality
there has been mistrust of government since the late 1950s because…
-unhappy war in Vietnam during 1960s
-President Nixon’s watergate scandal during 1970s
-Bill Clinton and his impeachment process during the 1990s
distrust of the government makes what more important?
civil society gets a greater role which is a collection of private/voluntary groups that are independent of the government and make human cooperation easier and hold the government accountable
examples of civil society
-boys and girls club
-boy/girl scouts
-chamber of commerce
-elks club
how do political elites influence public opinion
-elites control the media and raise/frame political issues
-elites determine the range of acceptable and unacceptable policy options
motor voter law 1993
-congress passed this law to increase voter registration
-allows people to register to vote when applying for drivers license and provide registration through the mail
