Exam 2

Political Science 150 with Mycoff at University of Delaware

About this deck

By: Sarah Warner
Textbook:

Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship In American Politics, 4th Edition, the Essentials (Essentials (CQ Press))
Created: 2010-10-18
Size: 88 flashcards
Views: 47

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Political Gridlock

stalemate that can result when rival parties stubbornly refuse to budge from their positions to achieve a compromise in the public interest

Political Parties

a group of citizens united under a label who recruit, nominate, and elect candidates for office in order to control the government in accordence with their ideas and policies

Partisanship

loyalty to a political cause or party

Party organization

the official stucture that conducts the political business of parties. represents the system of central committees at the national, state, and local levels.

Party-in-Government

members of the party who have been elected to serve in government

Party-in-Electorate

represents ordinary citizens who identify with or have some feeling of attachment to one of the political parties

Party identification

which party the voter is affiliated with

Party base

members of a political party who consistently vote for that party's candidate

Responsible party model

party government when four conditions are met: clear choice of ideologies, candidates pledged to implement ideas, party held accountable by voters, and party control over members

Party activists

the party fathful; the rank-and-file members who actually carry out the partys electioneering efforts

Party machines

mass-based party systems in which parties provided services and resources to voters in exchange for votes

Party bosses

Party leaders, usually in an urban district, who exercised tight control over electioneering and patronage

Patronage

system in which successful party candidates reward supporters with jobs and favors

Party primary

nomination of party candidates by reistered party members rather than party bosses

Party eras

extended periods of relative political stability in which one party tends to control both the presidency and congress

Critical election

an election signaling a significant change in popular allegiance from one party to another

Realignment

substantial and long-term shft in party allegiance by individuals and groups, usually resulting in a change in policy direction

Dealignment

a trencd among voters to identify themselves as independent rather than as members of a major party

Electioneering

the process of getting a person elected to public office

Closed primary

primary election in which only registered party members may vote

Open primary

primary election in which eligible voters do not need to be registered party members

Nominating convention

formal party gathering to choose candidates

Soft money

unregulated campaign contobutions by individuals, groups, or parties that promote general election activities but do not directly support individual candidates

Governing

activites directed toward controlling the distribution of political resources by providing executive and legislative leadership, enacting agendas, mobilizing support, and building coailitions

Party discipline

ablility of party leaders to bring party members in the legislature into line with the party program

Approval rating

job performance evaluation for the president, congress, or other public office or institution that is generated by public opinion polls and is typically reported as a percentage

Public opinion

aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs about certain issues or officials

Polls

methods for measuring public opinion

Efficacy

extent to which people believe their actions can affect public affairs and the actions of government

Public trust

extent to which people believe the government acts in their best interets

Elite opinion

political opinion of the most active and wealthy members of a political community

Straw Polls

ballot polls by nineteenth-century newspapers to predict the outcome of election

Random sample

method of selection that gives everyone who might be selected to participate in a poll an equal chance to be included

Gallup poll

best-known and perhaps most respected polling firm in the US founded by George Gallup

Scientific polling

method of polling that provides a fairly precise reading of public opinion by using random sampling

Census

constitutionally mandated count of the population every ten years

Sample

subset of a population from which information is collected and analyzed to learn more about the population as a whole. the norm for an accurate sample size is around one thousand people

Population

group the poll is to represent

Representative sample

polling sample that is not biased, in which all members of the population have an equl chance of being included

Tracking polls

polls that seek to gauge change of opinion of the same sample size over a period of time, common during the closing months of presidential elections

Exit polls

polls that survay a sample of voters immediately after exiting the voting booth to predict the outcome of the election before the ballots are offcically counted

Push polls

polls that are designed to manipulate the opinions of those being polled

Confidence interval

statistical range, with a given probability that takes random error into account

Sampling error

measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll reported as a percentage

Nonattitudes

sources of error in public polls in which individuals feel obligated to give opinions when they are unaware of the issue or have no opinions about it

Response rate

proportion of the public that responds to inquiries from pollsters to participate in surveys

Socialization

impact and influence of ones social enviroment on the views and attitudes one carries in life a primary source of political attitudes

Independents

individuals who do not affliliate with either of the major political parties

Generational efforts

effects on opinion from the era in which one lives

Self-interest

concern for ones own advantage and well-being

rationality

acting in a way that is consistent with ones self-interest

Elites

groups of people who may lead public opinions, such as journalists, politicians, and policy makers

Elite theory

idea that public opinion is shaped by discource among elites and is a top-to-bottom process

Perceptual lens

ideological framework that shapes the way partisons view the political world and process information

Political ideology

set of consistent political beliefs

liberals

individuals who have faith in government to improve peoples lives, believing that private efforts are insufficient. in the social sphere, liberals usually support diverse lifestyles and tent to oppose any government action that seek to shape personal choices

Conservatives

individuals who distrust government, believing that private efforts are more likely to improve peoples lives. in the social sphere they usually support traditional lifestyles and tend to believe the government can play a valuable role in shaping personal choice

Moderates

individuals who are in the middle of ideological spectrum and do not hold consistently strong views about whether government should be involved in peoples lives

Levels of conceptualization

measure of how ideologically coherent individuals are in their political evaluations

Salient

indication of importance and relevance of an issue to an individual

Low information rationality

idea that people do not need to have lots of information to make good decisions

Polarization

condition in which differences between parties and/or the public are so stark that disagreement breaks out, fueling attacks and controversy

Depolarized

political system in which the parties adopt the same position on issues and choice is limited, leading citizens to feel less compelled to participate in elections

Responsible parties

parties that take responsiblity for offering the electorate a clear and distinct range of policies and programs, thus providing a clear choice

Socioeconomic status

combined measure of occupation, education, income, wealth, and relative social standing or lifestyle

Regan Democrats

voters traditionally affiliated with democratic party based on their working-class status who voted for ronald regan in the 1980s because of his conservative message of social issues, strong national security, and limited government control

Gender gap

differences in the political attitudes and behavior of men and woman

Affirmative action

policies that grant racial or gender prefernces in giring, education, or contracting

Rally-around-the-flag-effects

surge of public support for the president in times of international crisis

Latent public opinion

underlying opinions and attitudes of the public that are not always captured in public opinion data but are recognized by public officials and influential in policy making

Invisible primary

early attempts to raise money, line up campaign consultants, generate media attention, and get commitments for support even before candidates announce they are running

Party cacus

local gathering of party members to choose convention delegates

Presidential primary

an election by voters choose convention delegates committed to voting for a certain candidate

Front-loading

the process of scheduling presidential primaries early in the primary season

Front-runner

the leading candidate and expected winner of a nomination or an election

Momentum

the widely held public perception that a candidate is gaining election strenght

Swing voters

the approximately one-thirt of the electorate who are undiecided at the start of a campaign

Oppo reserch

investigation of an opponents background for the purpose of exploiting weaknesses or underminign credibility

Valence issues

issues on which voters and candidates share the same position

Position issues

issues on which the parties differ in their perspectives and proposed solutions

Wedge issue

a controversial issue that one party uses to split the voters in the other party

Issue ownership

the tendency of one party to be seen as more cometent on a specific policy area

Negative advertising

Campaign advertising that emphasizes the negative characteristics of opponents rather than ones own strengths

Government matching funds

money given by the federal government to qualified presidential candidates in the primary and general election campaigns

Hard money

campaign funds donated directly to candidates; amounts are limited by federal election laws

Issue advocacy ads

ads paid for by soft money and thus not regulated. that promote certian issues positions but do not endorse specific candiates

Get-the-vote (GOTV) drives

efforts by political parties, interest groups, and the conadidates staff to maximize voter turnout among supporters

Electoral mandate

the perception that an election victory signals broad support for the winners proposed policies

About this deck

By: Sarah Warner
Textbook:

Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship In American Politics, 4th Edition, the Essentials (Essentials (CQ Press))
Created: 2010-10-18
Size: 88 flashcards
Views: 47

About StudyBlue

“I have used this website for three exams, and I see a huge difference in my test results.”
Naj