Unit 4: Poltical views Flashcards
(21 cards)
Political Socialization
A process by which one develops their political beliefs.
American Values
Individualism
The principle of valuing individual rights over those of the government. A strong emphasis on individual initiative and responsibility.
Ex. Government assistance like food stamps or abortion.
Equality of Opportunity
The belief is that each person should have the same opportunities in society.
Ex. Government should be on a leveled playing field.
Free Enterprise
The idea is that the government should not get involved in the business.
Rule of Law
No one is above they law including the government.
Limited Government
The restrictions placed on the government to protect individual rights.
Ex. Government should have a limited role in interfering with my life.
Fiscal Policy
Refers to government spending, taxing, or borrowing in order to impact the economy.
Liberals like to tax and spend.
Conservatives like to cut taxes and limit spending.
Free Market
The idea that the government does not intervene in the economy.
The government does not proivde a safety net.
Excpetions to the free market.
Social security and Medicatre are examples of programs that are popular with both liberals and conservatives, so it’s difficult ot cut spending for those programs.
Supply Side Economics
The best way to help the economy is thorugh government spenidng. Spending money on social progams that help everyday Americans will help the economy.
Keynesian Economics
The best way to help the economy is thorugh gviving benefits (like cut tax cuts) to the rick so that they can pass those benefits on to middle and working class Americans.
Monetary Policy
- Refers to the government’s ability to increase or decrease the money supply in order to help the economy.
- The Federal Reseve can control the money supply bu raising or lowering interest rates.
Libertarians
Believe that the governemnt should have a very limited role in public life, they don’t favor governemtn involvment in conservative or liberal issues.
Ex. Government should not spend money on programs ( social programs or defense programs) because that lads to higher taxes and more government involment.
Measuring Public opinion
Its a way of saying what people think. According to Khan Academy, “ might be what people think the government should focus on, how likely they are to vote for a candidate, or whether they pay much attention to politics at all. “
Mass Surveys
It is the most common type of survey. The mass survey is a way to measure public opinion by interviewing a large number of people.
Benchmark polls
Its a poll doncuted by campaigns as the race for office begins. They provide a basic comparison for later polls to campaign. That allows them to determine their likelihood of winning the office. (increasing or decreasing)
Tracking polls
” A survey performed repeatedly with the same group of people to check and measure changes of opinion.
Focus groups
A group of people that are brought in to give their opinion on something. Its usually a medium to a large size group.
Sampling error
” The predicted difference between the average opinion expressed by survey respondents and the average opinion in the population; also called the margin of error. As the sample size increases, the margin of error decreases.”
Representative sample
” A relatively small number of respondents who accurately reflect the variety of opinions, demographics, etc. in the broader population. In political science, a representative sample is usually between 400 and 2,000 respondents.”
