A.P. Government—Politics & Policies: Cornell Notes (2 Chapters)
Name: Brooke Blakelock Date: 1/23/23
Unit: 3 Chapter: 6 Pages:98-119
Learning Objective: Write Answers / Notes / Definitions / Examples
in Question Form
(6.1) What is Public Public opinion: how people think or feel about particular things
Opinion? Media: Sources of news and information that have the potential to influence
public opinion
-How can we measure it? Poll: a survey of public opinion
Random sample: method of selecting from a population in which each
person has an equal probability of being selected.
Sampling error: the difference between the resultsof random samples taken
at the same time.
-How do we ask questions? Exit polls: based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly
selected voters
Question wording: the way in which survey questions are phrased, which
influences how respondents answer them.
(6.2) What drives opinion? Political socialization: process by which background traits influence one’s
political view.
Impressionable Years hypothesis: Argument that political experiences
during the late teen s and early 20s powerfully shape attitudes for the rest of
the life cycle.
-Demographic Factors> The Gender Gap: difference in political views between men and women
Race & Ethnicity
Partisanship: An individual’s identification with the party; whether they
consider themselves a democrat, republican, or independent.
-The limits of demographic Party sorting: the alignment of partisanship and issue positions so that
factors> Democrats tend to take more liberal positions and Republicans tend to take
more conservative ones.
Political ideology: A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what
policies government ought to pursue.
(6.3) Public Opinion and *Politicas do not always follow the majorities rule> this happens because
, Public Policy the minority is more politically engaged and active.
*Government policy is often more responsive to the preferences of the
economic elite rather than the apathetic majority.
(6.4) The Media and Politics The party press> in the early years of the republic, politicians of various
factions and parties created, sponsored, and controlled newspapers to further
their interests.
The popular press> Changes in society and technology made possible the
rise of a self supporting, mass-readership daily newspaper.
The internet/electronic journalism> sound bite: a radio or video clip of
someone speaking.
blog> a series or log of discussion items on a page of the web.
(6.5) Where do Americans -Television
get their News? -Newspapers
-Radios
-Magazines
-Internet
(6.6) Media Effects Agenda-setting/gatekeeping: the ability of the news media, by printing
stories about some topics and not others, to shape the public agenda.
Priming> the ability of the news media to influence the factors individuals
use to evaluate political elites.
Framing> the way in which the news media, by focusing on some aspects of
an issue, shapes how people view that issue
(6.7) Is the Media Confidence in the press> has lessened over time since 1973.
Trustworthy and Unbiased? *The best way to study media is to look at detailed content analyses of the
media’s coverage of politicians to determine if there is any bias in favor of
one party or the other.
(6.8) Government Regulation -Once something is published to the public eye, it can be sued or prosecuted
of the Media if the material is offensive or obscene, which are not very serious
restrictions.
Name: Brooke Blakelock Date: 1/23/23
Unit: 3 Chapter: 6 Pages:98-119
Learning Objective: Write Answers / Notes / Definitions / Examples
in Question Form
(6.1) What is Public Public opinion: how people think or feel about particular things
Opinion? Media: Sources of news and information that have the potential to influence
public opinion
-How can we measure it? Poll: a survey of public opinion
Random sample: method of selecting from a population in which each
person has an equal probability of being selected.
Sampling error: the difference between the resultsof random samples taken
at the same time.
-How do we ask questions? Exit polls: based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly
selected voters
Question wording: the way in which survey questions are phrased, which
influences how respondents answer them.
(6.2) What drives opinion? Political socialization: process by which background traits influence one’s
political view.
Impressionable Years hypothesis: Argument that political experiences
during the late teen s and early 20s powerfully shape attitudes for the rest of
the life cycle.
-Demographic Factors> The Gender Gap: difference in political views between men and women
Race & Ethnicity
Partisanship: An individual’s identification with the party; whether they
consider themselves a democrat, republican, or independent.
-The limits of demographic Party sorting: the alignment of partisanship and issue positions so that
factors> Democrats tend to take more liberal positions and Republicans tend to take
more conservative ones.
Political ideology: A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what
policies government ought to pursue.
(6.3) Public Opinion and *Politicas do not always follow the majorities rule> this happens because
, Public Policy the minority is more politically engaged and active.
*Government policy is often more responsive to the preferences of the
economic elite rather than the apathetic majority.
(6.4) The Media and Politics The party press> in the early years of the republic, politicians of various
factions and parties created, sponsored, and controlled newspapers to further
their interests.
The popular press> Changes in society and technology made possible the
rise of a self supporting, mass-readership daily newspaper.
The internet/electronic journalism> sound bite: a radio or video clip of
someone speaking.
blog> a series or log of discussion items on a page of the web.
(6.5) Where do Americans -Television
get their News? -Newspapers
-Radios
-Magazines
-Internet
(6.6) Media Effects Agenda-setting/gatekeeping: the ability of the news media, by printing
stories about some topics and not others, to shape the public agenda.
Priming> the ability of the news media to influence the factors individuals
use to evaluate political elites.
Framing> the way in which the news media, by focusing on some aspects of
an issue, shapes how people view that issue
(6.7) Is the Media Confidence in the press> has lessened over time since 1973.
Trustworthy and Unbiased? *The best way to study media is to look at detailed content analyses of the
media’s coverage of politicians to determine if there is any bias in favor of
one party or the other.
(6.8) Government Regulation -Once something is published to the public eye, it can be sued or prosecuted
of the Media if the material is offensive or obscene, which are not very serious
restrictions.
