A.P. Gov. Unit 2
Terms
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- Halo effect
- tendency of survey respondents to provide socially acceptable answers to questions
- Conservatism
- The valuing of a free market, limited government intervention, as well as a belief in self-reliance in the economy
- Public opinion
- the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues
- Mass media
- television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and other means of popular communication that are a key part of high-tech politics - used to attract a broad audience
- Watchdog
- Media protects the people by watching the government and alerting the public.
- Latency
- issues that are "below the surface" of current public opinion but may become more important if there is change in events
- Condensation symbol
- word, phrase, or idea that leaves an impression on a person
- Scorekeeper
- Media keeps the score and who is doing well.
- Moderate
- A person who is neither an extreme liberal or conservative and stands in the middle of political spectrum
- Random digit dialing
- a technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey
- Exurbs
- people commute to urban area (Washington, MO go to St. Louis, MO to work)
- 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.
- Spin
- The angle at which media presents the information.
- Attentive public
- those who follow the news about a particular issue or different issue areas very closely and are well informed as to factual information regarding such issues
- Political efficacy
- Internal understanding of the government and how it works. External: amount of confidence that one has in the belief of his or her contribution to the government
- Agenda setting
- Deciding what will be decided, defining the problems and issues to be addressed by decision makers.
- Sound bite
- Words actually spoken by candidates themselves on news broadcasts.
- Image making
- Making a candidate look good.
- Selective retention
- different people group like or unlike information together, which makes it difficult to know how media can affect people's beliefs or opinions
- Political culture
- set of widely shared values, beliefs, and norms regarding government and society
- Issue framing
- Making issues appear simpler for the public.
- Liberalism
- The valuing of a strong government to protect individuality as well as a belief in personal freedom
- Distribution
- All public opinion is a measure of the distribution of individual opinion. Stated with raw numbers (1,2,3), percents, or represented with a graph.
- Selective perception
- the phenomenon that people often pay the most attention to things they already agree with and interpret them according to their own predispositions
- Media
- the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely
- Cross Pressures
- any factors that produce conflicting political views (e.g. 1 Jewish boy and 1 Catholic girl get married and upset the parents)
- Social mobility
- perceived ability to rise and fall among classes
- Broadcasting
- used to reach the greatest number of people through media that is directed toward all audiences through all forms of media
- Reinforcing cleavage
- divisions in society that amplify each other thereby increasing the effect of the differences (e.g. black v. white, urban v. suburban)
- Consensus
- Agreement. Consensus is reflected by an opinion distribution in which a large majority see eye to eye.
- Ideology
- consistent system of beliefs, ideas, and values
- 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.
- Leak
- A carefully placed bit of inside information given to a friendly reporter. Leaks can benefit both the leaker and the leakee.
- Political / media consultant
- A person who makes a candidate look good.
- Newsmaking
- Deciding what events, topics, presentations, and issues will be given coverage in the news.
- Cross-Cutting cleavage
- divisions in society that cut across demographic divisions thereby reducing the effect of the differences (e.g. male v. females, education high school or less v. some college or more)
- Democratic consensus
- broad agreement regarding the merits and rules of democracy
- Salience
- measures the degree to which individuals believe an issue is relevant to them
- Libertarian(ism)
- an extreme laissez-faire political philosophy advocating only minimal state intervention in the lives of citizens
- Hot button issue
- major and influential issues that are prominent in politics and the media that the public addresses to advocate for certain policies to be created
- Wedge issue
- a sharply divisive political issue, especially one that is raised by a candidate or party in hopes of attracting or disaffecting a portion of an opponent's customary supporters.
- Horse race coverage
- Media coverage of electoral campaigns that concentrates on who is ahead and who is behind, and neglects the issues at stake.
- Narrowcasting
- as opposed to traditional "broadcasting," the appeal to a narrow, particular audience by channels such as ESPN, MTV, and C-SPAN, which focus on a narrow particular interest
- Micropolitan area
- smaller than metropolitan (Madison, WI)
- Demographics
- the study of the characteristics of a population
- Centrism
- The movement of ideologies toward the middle of the spectrum. It changes the shape of the ideological cure-creates a new "normal".
- Political socialization
- the process in which a person acquires beliefs and opinions politically
- Selective exposure
- people choose what they are exposed to based on their own personal opinions and beliefs
- Neoconservative
- belief in an aggressive foreign policy, democracy is the most advanced type of gov't, strongly against communism and totalitarianism, belief in moral clarity and moral certainty, civil equality should be promoted, accept social welfare, and emphasis personal responsibility.
- Gatekeeper
- (the media) They decide what citizens can consume, read about, and watch.
- Equality of opportunity
- equal chance for anyone in society to begin in the same position as others and have the same chances
- Political equality
- equal chance of anyone in society to contribute in politics
- Class consciousness
- awareness of social standing
- Population/Universe
- is the group whose opinion is being sought (e.g. Americans, eligible voters, registered voters, "likely voters", adult females, etc...)
- Metropolitan area
- urban core with suburban outside
- Intensity
- measures how strongly opinions are held (Likat scale)
- Adversarial press
- Media is the good guys, government are the bad.