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American Government 2
Public Opinion, The News Media, Interest Groups and Business Corporations, Political Parties, and Voting Campaigns and Elections
95
Political Studies
Undergraduate 2
02/18/2009

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term

core beliefs

Definition
Individual's views about the fundamental nature of human beings, society, and economy; taken together, they comprise the political culture
Term
political attitudes
Definition
Individual's views and preferences about public policies, political parties, candidates, government institutions, and public officials.
Term
public opinion
Definition

Political attitudes and core beliefs expressed by ordinary citizens as revealed by surveys.

Term
sample survey
Definition
An interview study asking questions of a set of people who are chosen as representative of the whole population
Term
random sampling
Definition
The selection of survey respondents by chance, with equal probability, to ensure their representativeness of the whole population
Term
political socialization
Definition
The process by which individuals come to have certain core beliefs and political attitudes.
Term
agents of socialization
Definition
Those institutions and individuals that shape the core beliefs and attitudes of people
Term
active partisan
Definition
People who identify with a party, vote in elections, and participate in additional party and party-candidate activities
Term
Political ideology
Definition
A system of interrelated and coherently patterned beliefs and attitudes
Term
collective public opinion
Definition
The political attitudes of the public as a whole, expressed as averages, percentages, or other summaries of many individuals' opinions
Term
rational public
Definition
The notion that collective public opinion is rational in the sense that it is generally stable and consistent and that when it changes it does so as an understandable response to events, to changing circumstances, and to new information.
Term

presidential approval rating

Definition
A president's standing with the public, indicated by the percentage of Americans who tell survey interviewers that they approve a president's "handling of his job"
Term
leaners
Definition
People who claim to be independents but say they consistently favor one party over another
Term
economic conservatives
Definition
People who favor private enterprise and oppose government regulations on spending
Term
economic liberals
Definition
People who favor government regulation of business and government spending for social programs
Term
social (lifestyle) liberals
Definition
People who favor civil liberties, abortion rights, and alternative lifestyles
Term

social (lifestyle) conservatives

Definition
People who favor traditional social values; they tend to support strong law-and-order measures and oppose abortion and gay rights.
Term
policy preferences
Definition
Citizens' preferences concerning what policies they want government to pursue.
Term
isolationism
Definition
The policy of avoiding involvement in foreign affairs
Term
multilateralist
Definition
The stance toward foreign policy that suggests that the United States should seek the cooperation of the other nations and multilateral institutions in pursuing its goals
Term
unilateralist
Definition
The stance toward foreign policy that suggests that the United States should "go it alone," pursuing its national interests without seeking the cooperation of other nations or multilateral institutions.
Term
watchdog
Definition
The role of the media in scrutinizing the actions of government officials.
Term
blog
Definition
The common term for a weblog, a website on which an individual or group posts text, photos, audio files, and more, on a regular basis for others to view and respond to.
Term
podcast
Definition
Digital audio and video files made readily available to interested people via computers and portable devices
Term
wire service
Definition
Organizations such as the Associated Press and Reuters that gather and disseminate news to other news organizations
Term
media monopoly
Definition
Term used to suggest that media corporations are so large, powerful, and interconnected that alternative voices to the economically and politically powerful cannot have their views aired
Term
infotainment
Definition
The merging of hard news and entertainment in news presentations
Term
beat
Definition
The assigned location where a reporter regularly gathers news stories
Term
leak, news
Definition
Inside or secret information given to a journalist or media outlet by a government official.
Term
news management
Definition
The attempt by those in political power to shape the presentation of news about them and their policies in a favorable light.
Term
spin
Definition
The attempt by public officials to have a story reported in terms that favor them and their policies
Term
newsworthy
Definition
Worth printing or broadcasting as news, according to editors' judgments
Term
objective jounalism
Definition
News reported with no evaluative language and with any opinions quoted or attributed to a specific source.
Term
pundits
Definition
Somewhat derisive term for print, broadcast, and radio commentators on the political news.
Term
bias
Definition
Deviation from some ideal standard, such as representativeness or objectivity
Term
agenda setting
Definition
Influencing what people consider important
Term
framing
Definition
Providing a context for interpretation
Term
prior restraint
Definition
The government's power to prevent publication, as opposed to punishment afterward.
Term
fairness doctrine
Definition
The former requirement that television stations present contrasting points of view.
Term
equal time provision
Definition
The former requirement that television stations give or sell the same amount of time to all competing candidates
Term
interest group
Definition
A private organization or voluntary association that seeks to influence public policy as a way to protect or advance some interest
Term
faction
Definition
Madison's term for groups or parties that try to advance their own interests at the expense of the public good.
Term
pluralist
Definition
A political scientist who views American politics as best understood in terms of the interaction, conflict, and bargaining of groups
Term
private interest
Definition
An interest group that seeks to protect or advance the material interests of its members
Term
public interest
Definition
An interest groups that advocates for a cause or an ideology
Term
lobbying
Definition
Effort by an interest or advocacy group to influence the behavior of a public official
Term
advocacy group
Definition
An interest group organized to support a cause or ideology.
Term
lobbyist
Definition
A person who attempts to influence the behavior of public officials on behalf of an interest group
Term
disturbance theory
Definition
A theory that locates the origins of interest groups in changes in the economic, social, or political environment that threaten the well-being of some segment of the population
Term
ear-marking
Definition
Practice of appropriating money for specific pet projects of members of Congress, usually done at the behest of lobbyists, and added to bills at the last minute with little opportunity for deliberation
Term
amicus curiae
Definition
Latin for "friend of the court"; describes a brief in which individuals not party to a suit may have their views heard
Term
grassroots lobbying
Definition
The effort by interest groups to mobilize local constituencies and shape public opinion to support the group's goals and to bring that pressure to bear on elected officials
Term
political action committe (PAC)
Definition
An entity created by an interest group whose purpose is to collect money and make contributions to candidates in federal elections.
Term
soft money
Definition
Unregulated expenditures by political parties on general public education, voter registration, and voter mobilization; often used to indirectly influence campaigns for elective office, until banned after 2002.
Term
527 organizations
Definition
Groups that can collect and spend money without legal limits to advocate for and against issues; most are barely disguised efforts to support or attack candidates or parties
Term
iron triangle
Definition
An enduring alliance of common interest among an interest group, a congressional committee, and a bureaucratic agency.
Term
sub-government
Definition
Another name for an iron triangle
Term
issue networks
Definition
Broad coalitions of public and private interest groups, policy experts, and public officials that form around particular policy issues; said to be more visible to the public and more inclusive.
Term
revolving door
Definition
Phrase to describe the common practice in which former government officials become lobbyists for interests with whom they formerly dealt in their official capacity
Term
partisan
Definition
A committed supporter of a political party; seeing issues from the point of view of a single party.
Term
political party
Definition
An organization that tries to win control of government by electing people to office who carry the party label
Term
party platform
Definition
A party's statement of its positions on the issues of the day
Term
two-party system
Definition
A political system in which two parties vie on relatively equal terms to win national elections and in which each party governs at one time or another
Term
multiparty system
Definition
A political system in which three or more viable parties compete to lead the government; because a majority winner is not always possible, multiparty systems often have coalition governments where governing power is shared among two or more parties
Term
realignment
Definition
The process by which one party supplants another as the dominant party in a political system
Term
New Deal
Definition
The programs of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Term
New Deal coalition
Definition
The informal electoral alliance of working class ethnic groups, Catholics, Jews, urban dwellers, racial minorities, and the South that was the basis of the Democratic party dominance of American politics from the New Deal to the early 1970s.
Term
divided government
Definition
Control of the executive and legislative branches by different political parties.
Term
dealignment
Definition
A gradual reduction in the dominance of one political party without another party supplanting it.
Term
proportional representation
Definition
The awarding of legislative seats to political parties to reflect the proportion of the popular vote each party receives
Term
party identification
Definition
The sense of belonging to a political party
Term
liberal
Definition
The political position that holds that the federal government has a substantial role to play in economic regulation, social welfare, and overcoming racial inequality
Term
conservative
Definition
The political position that holds that the federal government ought to play a very small role in economic regulation, social welfare, and overcoming racial inequality
Term
unified government
Definition
Control of the executive and legislative branches by the same political party
Term
gridlock
Definition
A situation in which things cannot get done in Washington, usually because of divided government.
Term
responsibe party
Definition
A political party that takes clear, distinct stands on the issues and enacts them as policy when in office
Term
prospective voting model
Definition
A theory of democtratic elections in which voters decide what government will do in the near future by choosing one or another responsible party
Term
electoral competition model
Definition
 A form of election in which parties seeking votes move toward the median voter or the center of the political spectrum.
Term
median voter
Definition
Refers to the voter at the exact middle of the political spectrum
Term
electoral reward and punishment
Definition
The tendency to vote for incumbents when times are good and against them when times are bad.
Term
retrospective voting
Definition
A form of election in which voters look back at the performance of a party in power and cast ballots on the basis of how well it did in office.
Term
provisional ballot
Definition
A vote that is cast but not counted until determination is made that the voter is properly registered.
Term
franchise
Definition
The legal right to vote
Term
suffrage
Definition
the ability to vote
Term
electoral college
Definition
Representatives of the states who formally elect the president; the number of electors in each state is equal to the total number of its senators and congressional representatives.
Term

convention, party

Definition
A gathering of delegates who nominate a party's presidential candidate
Term
primary election
Definition
Statewide elections in which voters choose delegates to the national party conventions; virtually all delegates are pledged to a specific candidate for the party's nomination
Term
caucus nominating system
Definition
A system for selecting delegates to the national party conventions characterized by neighborhood and areawide meetings of party supporters and activists; used in only a handful of states
Term
turnout
Definition
The proportion of eligible voters who actually vote in a given election
Term
referanda
Definition
Procedures available in some states by which state laws or constitutional amendments proposed by the legislature are submitted to the voters for approval or rejection
Term
initiatives
Definition
Procedures available in some states for citizens to put proposed laws and constitutional amendment on the ballot for voter approval or rejection
Term

superdelegates

Definition
Elected officials from all levels of government who are appointed by party committees to be delegates to the national convention of the Democratic Party; not selected in primary elections or caucuses
Term
normal vote
Definition
the proportion of the votes that each party would win if party identification alone affected voting decisions.
Term
electors
Definition
Representatives who are elected in the states to formally choose the U.S. president
Term
plurality
Definition
More votes than any other candidate but less than a majority of all votes cast.
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