Kenny POLI 2051 exam 2 Questions & Answers

public opinion - ANSWERSthe collected attitudes of citizens on a given issue or question Answerwhy is public opinion important? - ANSWERSIn a democracy, there must be a link between what the public thinks and what the government does -- the nature of this link can vary greatly Answerwho is most interested in public opinion? - ANSWERSelected officials: public opinion may influence government decision making academics: seek to understand why people behave the way that they do the people: may be motivated to become active in politics AnswerIs the public capable of governing? How would you know? - ANSWERSSurveys show that people: ○ Are not very interested in politics ○ Are ignorant of much that goes on politically ○ Rely heavily on cues/shortcuts rather than informed issue positions ■ Endorsements, political polls, trusted individuals Answerpolitical socialization - ANSWERSa complex process through which individuals become aware of politics , learn political facts, and form political values. (develop a party attachment, nature vs. nurture) Answerwe learn these things and they occur throughout our lives (socialization) - ANSWERSgenerational effects, life cycle effects, period effects Answergenerational effects - ANSWERSspecific age group uniquely affected by set of historical events (ex. vietnam and great depression) Answerlife cycle effects - ANSWERSpolitical views are influenced by maturation (ex. young people are less politically engaged) Answerperiod effects - ANSWERShistorical events affect everyone (ex. 9/11) Answeragents of socialization - ANSWERSfamily, community and peers, school, mass media Answerfamily - ANSWERS*strongest influence on individuals -you learn partisan identification from your parents -you can't ask people directly what their party is, but you can ask them what party their parents are (strongest predictor) Answercommunity and peers - ANSWERShave a powerful influence, even into adulthood - the idea of peer pressure -- we live in certain neighborhoods, churches, groups Answerschool - ANSWERSteaches you importance of voting, civic education, being a good citizen, patriotism, authority figures; teaches you respect for existing social orders - doesn't always teach you the same things family does Answermass media - ANSWERScan have an influence due to opinions that are found in pop culture/ music Answerour behavior may be based on our _______. - ANSWERSbiology Answerhow do we know what public opinion is? - ANSWERSwe have to guess, but now we do polls Answerthe statistical theory of sampling - ANSWERSa sample of individuals selected by chance from any population is representative of that population Answerwhat determines the accuracy of a poll? - ANSWERSthe way the sample is selected, the size of the sample, the way the survey is put together Answerquestion wording - ANSWERS○ Survey responses on "welfare" vs. "assisting the poor" ○ Leading questions → respondents are led to select on a particular position; other responses are set-up to seem undesirable or wrong ○ Social desirability ○ Question clarity ○ Double-barreled question ○ Question require knowledge the person doesn't have Answerquestion ordering - ANSWERSsurvey responses on question about whether reporters should be able to report the news from other countries as they see fit Answerpush polls - ANSWERSnot actually polls; poses as a survey designed to implant negative information about an opponent in voters' minds Answerexit polls - ANSWERSis taken immediately after voters have exited the polling stations; conduct exit polls to gain an early indication as to how the election will turn out Answerlikely voters - ANSWERSthe group of individuals estimated who are most likely to vote; age eligible voter only show for about 50% Answerbandwagon affect - ANSWERSyou watch a poll, see the results, and the leading opinion guides your decision Answerunderdog affect - ANSWERSyou vote for someone who doesn't seem like they'll win Answerpolls affect candidates and politicians - ANSWERSif the public opinion is strongly for or against an issue, it causes the candidate/ politician to think/ act differently Answerpolls affect media coverage - ANSWERSmedia tends to cover politics as a "sporting event" -- who is winning, who is coming close, etc. Answerpolls affect election results - ANSWERSin close elections, more people vote AnswerCLASS SURVEY: what did it show? - ANSWERS● Students identify themselves as more Republican and Conservative than Democrat and Liberal ● Students identify their parents as more extreme than themselves in terms of party identification, particularly on the conservative end of the scale ● Political Socialization: student party identification is correlated with parent party identification; women are more strongly correlated with their mothers and men with their fathers ● Question wording matters → more people agree that government spends too little on "assistance to the poor" than for "people on welfare" ● Question ordering matters → more people agree that reporters from countries hostile to the US should be able to report the news from the US as they see fit if that question is asked after the question about US reporters being allowed into hostile countries ● We see issues through a partisan lens, particularly salient issues like dealing with terrorist threats and North Korea, building the wall, the Russia investigation, approval of political leaders, and on general questions such as whether the country is headed in the right direction or not Answerpolitical ideology - ANSWERSdefines as a general belief about the role and purpose of government Answerliberal - ANSWERSadapt to change, concerned for groups, big government Answerconservative - ANSWERSnot as susceptible to change, concerned for individuals, small government Answerpopulist - ANSWERSused to describe an individual who is an economic liberal and cultural conservative Answerlibertarian - ANSWERSbelieve government should refran from undue intervention in the economic marketplace and people's private lives Answersampling error - ANSWERSa measuring of the accuracy of a public opinion poll; mainly function of a sample size and usually expressed in % terms Answerprimary socializing agents - ANSWERSinteract closely and regularly with the individual, usually early in life (family, school, church) Answersecondary socializing agents - ANSWERShave a less intimate connection with the individual and are usually more important later in life (peers, media, leaders, and events) Answermost powerful force in american society? - ANSWERSreligious right Answerconventional political participation - ANSWERSrelatively routine, non-threatening behavior that uses the channels of representative government o Voting, working on a campaign, giving $$, running for office AnswerUnconventional political participation - ANSWERSrelatively uncommon behavior that challenges/defies gvt channels o Protesting, demonstrating, boycotting, take over a building Answervoting - ANSWERSthe most common and most studied form of participation - our record of enfranchisement Answervoting rights act of 1965 - ANSWERSended literacy tests Answer15th amendment - ANSWERSblack people allowed to vote Answer19th amendment - ANSWERSwomen are allowed to vote Answer26th amendment - ANSWERSages 18 and older are allowed to vote Answerwhy did government grant the rights to vote to these groups when they passed all of these amendments? - ANSWERSo to get them off the streets → blacks and 18 year olds o to get support for government programs → women in WWI Answerelections - ANSWERStwo parts; must win two to hold office in this country Answernomination - ANSWERSwinning a majority of delegates to become your party's nominee Answerprimaries - ANSWERSactual elections -- determine party's final candidate for the general election; go behind curtain in voting booth Answerproportional - ANSWERSstate's electoral college votes are distributed based on proportion of the vote their party recieved; percentages Answerwinner-take-all - ANSWERSif you win the most votes in a geographical location, you win - discourages minor parties by reducing their chances of winning anything, even if they perform well by minor-party standards Answerdate of the primary - ANSWERSeveryone wants to go first Answeropen - ANSWERSvoters are not required to declare any party affliction Answerclosed - ANSWERSonly people registered with the party can vote Answersuper delegates - ANSWERSdemocrats have them; VIPS of democratic party -- only vote is no one has majority, they are associated with the state, but not pledged to one Answercaucuses - ANSWERSmeetings of interested party members Answeriowa caucuses - ANSWERS• How does it work? • It is the first caucus of the year; have to attend public meetings in school gyms, art centers, churches, libraries, restaurants and even fire stations i n1.681 precincts to vote for a candidate -- can take several hours • How many rounds of meetings take place? • How are the Democrats and Republicans different in how they do it? • Republican caucus → simpler process; cast a secret ballot in a private voting booth just as you would during a regular primary or general election • Democratic caucus → as soon as the meetings open, attendees must declare a preference for a candidate or are considered "uncommitted" o in order to be considered "viable," a group must clear a certain threshold (15%) o Once first-round votes are tallied, anyone stuck in a group that is not "viable" has the chance to align with a candidate who has passed the threshold o Controversial aspect → lack of a secret Answerconventions - ANSWERSwhere the nominee is actually chosen (lasts 3-4 days) Answergeneral election - ANSWERSthe electoral college must win a majority of electoral votes Answerelectoral college - ANSWERSvoting for a slate of electors attached to their name