AP Gov Ch. 10-11 FRQs

Explain potential flaws in polling and how to avoid them.

Potential flaws in polling include survey error, limited respondent options, lack of information, difficulty measuring intensity, and lack of interest in political issues. Survey error includes margin of error, or a measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll, and sampling error, or a poll error in which a pollster fails to sample certain populations. Limited respondent questions can cause polls to be inaccurate because if respondents do not have sufficient options to express their opinions, they may settle for an inaccurate answer. Lack of information is a flaw in polling because if respondents attempt to answer questions about issues they are not informed about, they can skew polls with their uneducated responses. Difficulty measuring intensity is a flaw in polling because respondents can answer polls accurately with their opinions, but their answers may not show the true intensity of their opinions. Lack of interest in political issues is a flaw in polling because respondents may face issues that do not personally affect or interest them, which makes it difficult for them to form opinions about the issues. These potential flaws in polling can be avoided by ensuring the sample is balanced and covers multiple demographics, cutting the margin of error of a poll under 5%, ensuring all poll questions have a sufficient range of answers to satisfy all possible opinions, only polling respondents who are well-informed about the issue at hand, polling respondents who are affected by the issue, and allowing respondents to clarify the intensity of their opinions in poll responses.

Explain the history of parties and give three examples of party realignment. (Critical Elections)

The Framers were against a government ruled by political parties. However, eventually, those aligned to the Constitution and its stronger central government formed the Federalist Party. Around the same time, in 1800, the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson, formed. By 1820, the Federalist Party dissolved. Around 1830, the Democratic Party formed with Andrew Jackson. The Whig Party formed around 1832. Eventually, the Republican Party formed in 1860 with the dissolving and split of the Whig Party and the election of President Lincoln. Three critical elections include 1800, 1860, and 1932. ‣ 1932 - FDR ‣ 1800 - Jefferson ‣ 1860 - Lincoln ‣ 1828 - Andrew Jackson (possible)

Name and describe the four different types of polls, and their purposes.

‣ Exit polls are polls conducted as voters leave selected polling places on Election Day. ‣ Tracking polls are continuous surveys that enable a campaign or news organization to chart a candidate's daily rise or fall in support. ‣ Push polls are polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against that candidate. ‣ Straw polls are unscientific surveys used to measure public opinion on a variety of issues and policies.

Why have political parties declined in importance over time?

‣ Government has taken over numerous party functions, including providing various social services, conducting elections, printing ballots, etc. ‣ Politics has evolved from party-centered to candidate-centered, meaning a candidate and his or her stance on issues is more focused on, rather than their party affiliation. ‣ Interest groups and lobbyists have risen in prominence ‣ Population shift from urban to rural areas has weakened political parties ‣ Population growth

Explain trends in political identification.

‣ Over time, a "middle of the road" or moderate ideology has been the most common political ideology, although this has lessened in more recent years. In the 1970's, liberal ideologies took a sharp dive, but slowly have been climbing back up since the 1980's. Since the 1970's, conservative ideologies have been slowly trending upward as more Americans identify on the right side of the political spectrum. However, while the moderate ideology is trending upward in modern times, both liberal and conservative ideologies are trending downward in recent years.

Explain ways in which people participate in politics.

‣ People participate in politics by voting in elections for the candidates they wish to be in office, signing petitions, wearing buttons, shirts, or candidate merchandise, running for office, writing letters to elected representatives, donating money to candidates, and serving for the military, to name a few.

Name and explain a few tactics of political machines.

‣ Political machines are party organizations that recruit voter loyalty with tangible incentives and are characterized by a high degree of control over member activity. Some tactics of political machines included providing housing, employment, food, entertainment, community events, and many other social services to voters.

Explain how polls impact elections and public opinion.

‣ Polls impact elections and public opinion by affecting voters' expectations of the outcomes of an election. For example, if a poll shows a certain candidate far below the other candidates in a political race, voters may not vote for that candidate because they feel like they would be throwing their vote away. On the other hand, if a certain candidate is well ahead of the other candidates in a poll, voters may feel unmotivated to vote because they might feel the candidate will win, regardless of their vote.

Compare and contrast the consequences of proportional representation vs. a winner-takes-all system.

‣ Proportional representation is when candidates receive delegates in proportion to their percentage in the polls. With proportional representation, the diverse interests and partisan standings of the population are more accurately represented. ‣ In a winner-takes-all system, the candidate who wins the simple majority, or at least one vote higher than the other candidate, wins all of the delegates in a state, and the other candidate(s) do not win a single delegate.

Explain how public opinion impacts politics.

‣ Public opinion impacts politics by influencing the actions of politicians and public officials. Public opinion influences officials to conform to the most popular viewpoint in order to attract voters and stay or gain a spot in office.

Define and explain the factors of political socialization.

‣ The factors of political socialization include family, media, peers, education, religion, faith, race and ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, and geography.

Describe three obstacles preventing the rise of a strong 3rd party.

‣ Three obstacles preventing the rise of a strong 3rd party include the United States' winner-take-all voting system, in which the party that receives at least one more vote than any other party wins the election, the Electoral College system, in which a candidate must not only win popular votes, but majorities in states that allow him or her to gain a total of 270 electoral votes, and and unenthusiastic approach of elections from 3rd party voters, who believe that voting for a 3rd party can be "throwing their vote away", and instead choose to support one of the two major parties. *SPARE TIRE ‣ Third parties typically do not have the power that the major parties do, meaning that it is more difficult for them to rally voters and raise funds The winner-take-all system encourages the grouping of interests into as few parties as possible, which drifts the vote away from a 3rd party in the United States.