Test 3 (Chapter 5) Flashcards
(26 cards)
public opinion-
the attitudes citizens have about political issues, leaders, and events
What’s the difference between values and beliefs, and attitudes and opinions -
Values- basic principles of an individual
Attitudes- one time opinion about an event or idea
What’s the difference between partisanship and ideology?
Partisanship- dem and rep / ideology- liberal and conservative
President Trump signed what executive order concerning many predominant Muslim countries shortly after obtaining office in 2017?
immediately halting the U.S. refugee program and banning immigration to the United States from a half dozen predominantly Muslim countries, including Syria.
democracy
The opportunity to take part in the nation’s governmental and policy-making processes and to have some say in determining how he or she is governed, including the right to vote in elections
political ideology
The set of underlying orientations, ideas, and beliefs through which we come to understand and interpret politics
Difference between classical and modern liberalism
Classical liberalism is closer to modern republicans- suspicious of government, favored individual initiative
Modern liberalism is supporting governmental and political reform, social programs, more open-minded
What were progressives?
Interested in a bigger and more active government
Conservatives generally support what, and are suspicious of what?
the social and economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new political formulae and economic arrangements.
Main difference in libertarians and socialists/green party?
Libertarians want less government, socialists/green party wants more government involvement
What is the gender gap?
The difference in opinions between men and women when it comes to political ideologies
What is one way in which polarization is harmful to the participation in politics?
High levels of polarization have been seen to actually decrease impact of information that could reform people’s minds, meaning a decrease in learning more (they feel like they’ve already got their mind made up)
What are two ways that lack of knowledge is harmful for democracy?
Not knowing your side can make you easily lose in arguments, and you can be easily manipulated by elite officials
The more unaware you are, the less you can speak up for what’s best for you, and the more people in one demographic that are less informed, the more likely it is that that demographic will be negatively affected
What are three forces that play important roles in shaping opinions in the marketplace
The government, private groups, and the news media
The federal government adopted the Affordable Health Care Act in what year and what did it change?
2010, required health insurance for all citizens
Why might elected officials pursue policies not aligned with centrist opinion?
Often because they view particular groups of the electorate as more important than others, like loyal voting blocs or interest groups
What are the requirements for an effective political survey?
an appropriate sampling method, a sufficient sample size, and the avoidance of selection bias.
What is a simple random sample (or probability sample)?
a process in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent
what is random digit dialing?
goes off of a list of telephone numbers that are computer generated to ask people survey questions, so that’s its as unbiased and random as possible
sampling error
an error that arises due to the size of the sample, because the larger sample size, the more likely the results will be reflective of the actual thing it’s a sample of.
how many people are generally thought to be sufficient in a “scientific poll”?
1,000
What is one frequent source of measurement error?
The wording of survey questions
What is the social desirability effect?
the problem with surveys when people don’t want to answer questions honestly because the honest answers would make them seem less socially desirable
What is selection bias?
When poll sample pools are picked based on something besides complete randomness
