Chapter 6 Terms

Conservative

A political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes.

Gender Gap

A term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates. Women tend to be significantly less conservative than men and are more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending.

Political Spectrum

A term used to refer to the differences in ideology between the major political parties in the United States.

Census

A valuable tool for understanding demographic changes. The Constitution requires that the government conduct an "actual enumeration" of the population every ten years.

Political Trust

"basic evaluative orientation toward the ... government." -Stokes

Political Ideology

A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies.

Ethnic Salad

suggests that the integration of the many different cultures of United States residents combine like a salad, as opposed to the more traditional notion of a cultural melting pot. Heterogeneous

Political Socialization

According to Richard Dawson, "the process through which an individual acquires his particular political orientations-his knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his political world."

Political Participation

All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. The most common but not the only means of political participation is a democracy in voting. Other means include protest and civil disobedience.

Political Culture

An overall set of values widely shared within a community.

Sources of Political Socialization

The family, the mass media (or lack of), and school.

Opinion Leaders

Influential members of a community, group, or society to whom others turn for advice, opinions, and views.

Liberal

Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values.

Party Identification

Party identification refers to the political party with which an individual identifies. Party identification is typically determined by the political party that an individual most commonly supports (by voting or other means)

Public Opinion

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

Minority Majority

The emergence of a non-Caucasian majority, as compared to a White, generally Anglo-Saxon majority. It is predicted that by 2060, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans together will outnumber White Americans.

Random Sampling

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

Sampling Error

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

Melting Pot

The mixing of cultures, ideas and peoples that has changed the American Nation. The United States, with its history of immigration, has often been considered one of these. Homogeneous

Reapportionment

The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every ten years on the basis of the results of the census.

Exit Polls

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

Demographics

The science of population changes.