Unit Two: Political Culture, Beliefs, and Behaviors Flashcards
Frenchmen who visited America in the 1800’s and described the young democracy he saw
Alexis de Tocqueville
a coherent way of thinking about how politics and the government ought to be carried out
Political Culture
manner in which people develop their political views (family, friends, media, current government, education)
Political Socialization
Liberal, Socialist, Conservative, Libertarianism
4 Ideologies
large federal government involvement needed to provide for the people (welfare, new deal, great society)
Liberal
belief in an extremely powerful state to protect people
Socialist
belief that limited government is necessary to grow strong economy, very pro-business anti-regulation
Conservative
belief in very small government and extreme focus on individual and business rights, no regulation of industry
Libertarianism
characteristics of population on income, education, race, gender
Demographics
changes in the way people of a certain socio-economic background vote (politicians follow these very closely)
Demographics trends
Every 10 years a count of the total population, different ethnic groups, religions, and how people vote
Census
after every census the congressional districts are redrawn based on population
Redistricting
state legislatures resize state congressional districts after every census
Reapportionment
The practice of redistricting in order to benefit a specific party by drawing districts based on the demo of their residents (Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno were court cases in which the supreme court ruled that this practice was unconstitutional)
Gerrymandering
Since 1960 voting turnout has greatly decreased because of the very difficult process of voter registration. People vote because of the party of the candidate, on basis of candidate, and on basis of issues
Voting Behavior
when people identify with a political party based on issues
Party Identification
belief that you can participate in politics, or that government will respond (my vote counts)
Political Efficacy
belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs
Civic Duty
held every four years in which president is elected
General elections
a political party’s elections to determine nominee for general election
Primary elections
people from either party can vote (must choose to vote for either democrats or republicans)
Open Primaries
people can only vote if they are a registered member of the party
Closed Primaries
candidate nomination process in which party members meet to discuss and decide on candidate
Caucuses
people vote on whether or not to accept a law passed by state legislature, or a proposed amendment to the state constitution
Referendum
people vote on laws and constitutional amendments within state (direct democracy)
Initiative
voters remove elected officials
Recall
