Political Cognitive Map Notes

Question 1

3 elements that make up our PCM?

Answer 1

Cognitive orientation (facts) + Affective orientation (feelings) + Judgments

Question 2

what are our political actions (and PCM) determined by?

Answer 2

our beliefs: personality and thoughts

Question 3

What are cognitive maps?

Answer 3

method used to construct and accumulate spatial knowledge, allowing the “mind’s eye” to visualize images in order to reduce cognitive load, enhance recall and learning of information

Question 4

What is a PCM?

Answer 4

It is a mental picture of what political worlds are to us and how we relate to them that defines how we receive, order and interpret political information, signals and stimuli.

Question 5

What are some pitfalls of PCMs?

Answer 5

As the information we receive in distorted/misguided, so is usually our political perspective (gap of info, wrong info, biases…).
And we still act as if we had all the info!

Question 6

what determines our intake of information?

Answer 6

How dense (detailed) our "filter" or "velcro" is determines what is important to us (influence how we receive, interpret and use the info) and what we ignore.
It is also situational (ex: interest in politics during elections only)

Question 7

PCM is a dynamic process

Answer 7

Orientation (and PCM) develops over time = our opinion is more persistent thanks to knowledge, learning, experiences etc.
Doesn’t mean we have all the answers!

Question 8

What is cognitive orientation? give examples

Answer 8

facts that we know (or think we know) about politics.

Ex: who is the PM of Japan, how federal liberals differ from provincial liberals

Question 9

What is affective orientation? give examples

Answer 9

how we feel about aspect of the political world (“gut feeling”)
Ex: what do you think of a tax increase? About war?

Question 10

What are judgments? give examples

Answer 10

how we assess the political world. It merges facts and feelings into political judgment.
Ex: should we legalize gay marriage? Does voting matter?

Question 11

what are the consequences of distortion?

Answer 11

negative outcome if lack/wrong knowledge + excessive trust in politicians

Question 12

What is alienation proportional to?

Answer 12

the unmapibility of a system (a city, politics…) Ex: London’s subway

Question 13

what is the political culture’s dilemma?

Answer 13

nature VS nurture

Question 14

what is the human nature argument?

Answer 14

we are born with innate knowledge, attitudes and opinions (in DNA).
Ex: violence is innate in humans

Question 15

what is the nurture argument?

Answer 15

we are born “tabla rasa” (blank state) and learn everything we know/do/feel

Question 16

what is political socialization?

Answer 16

central values of a political culture transmitted from 1 generation to the other by agents of socialization

Question 17

who are the agents of socialization?

Answer 17

people, institutions, family, friends, media, education, religion, peers

Question 18

what are 6 factors that influence our political culture? (and PCM)

Answer 18

agents of socialization, life-cycle effect, period effect, cohort effect, socio-demographic influence and political advances

Question 19

what is the life-cycle effect?

Answer 19

as one gets older his/her political views change and become + conservative and traditional (change resistant)

Question 20

what is the period effect?

Answer 20

people who grow up in the same time period share similar values due to events that occurred during this period. Ex: new tech generation, war …

Question 21

what is the cohort effect?

Answer 21

people participate in some political actions or experience them together. Ex: was in Vietnam, 9/11

Question 22

what are some socio-demographic elements?

Answer 22

Education, region, race, gender …

Question 23

what are political advances

Answer 23

marking political events share by a group of peopl. Ex: Tian’ anmen

Question 24

what is political alienation?

Answer 24

The feeling of being powerless about politics and political decisions and excluded from the political system.