ap gov. and politics chapter 6

political ideology

a coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose, which helps give meaning to political events

civil disobedience

a form of political participation based on a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and to suffer the consequences

protest

a form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics

sample

a relatively small portion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative as a whole

random-digit dialing

a technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey

political participation

all of the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. the most common means of political participation in democracy is voting; other means include protest and civil disobedience

census

an "actual enumeration" of the population, which the constitution requires that the government conduct every 10 years. the census is a valuable tool for understanding demographic changes

analyze how public opinion about the scope of the government guides political behavior

conservatives=scope of gov't=too wide in recent decades; liberals=scope of gov't should be further increased

classify forms of political participation into two broad forms

conventional: voting, writing letters/emails to public officials, attending political meetings, signing petitions, and donating money to campaigns/political groups. unconventional: activities such as protests and civil disobedience.

public opinion

distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues

identify demographic trends and their likely impact on american politics

immigration=accelerated--> minority pop=increased

sampling error

level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. the more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the results

political culture

overall set of values widely shared within a society

assess the influence of political ideology on americans' political thinking and behavior

political ideology=coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy--> Conservatism and Liberalism. 60% Americans call selves lib/conserv--> other 40%=neither OR conservative in principle but liberal in practice

outline how various forms of socialization shape political opinions

political socialization=mostly informal; people pick up and absorb political orientations from major actors in everyday environment; family, media, schools=main info harbors; as people age, firmness in attitudes=increased

reapportionment

process of reallocating seats in the house of representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census

political socialization

process through which individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge, based on inputs from family, schools, the media, and others.

exit poll

public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision

explain how polls are conducted and what can be learned from them about american public opinion

random sampling-->every member of population has=opportunity to be selected for interview. 1000 americans=sample--> plus or minus 3%; responses=important for democracy, measuring what public thinks about political matters b/w elections, show how well informed people are

demography

science of population changes

melting pot

term often used to characterize the US, with its history of immigration and mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples.

random sampling

the key technique employed by survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample

gender gap

the regular pattern in which women are more likely to support democratic candidates, in part because they tend to be less conservative than men and more likely to support social services and oppose higher levels of military spending.

minority majority

the situation, likely beginning in the mid-twenty-first century, in which the non-Hispanic whites will represent a minority of the US population and minority groups together will represent a majority