Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Gov. Chapter 7
Public Opinion and Political Socialization
18
Political Studies
12th Grade
04/30/2010

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
watergate break-in
Definition
the 1972 illegal entry into the Democratic National Committee offices by participants in Richard Nixon's reelection campaign
Term
public opinion
Definition
the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of the adult population. There is no one public opinion, because there are many different publics
Term
consensus
Definition
general agreement among the citizenry on an issue
Term
divisive opinion
Definition
public opinion that is polarized between two quite different positions
Term
intensity
Definition
the strength of a position for or against a public policy or an issue. Intensity is often critical in generating public action; an intense minority can often win on an issue of public policy over a less intense majority
Term
fluidity
Definition
the extent to which public opinion changes over time
Term
stability
Definition
the extent to which public opinion remains constant over a period of time
Term
relevance
Definition
the extent to which an issue of concern at a particular time. Issues become relevant when the public views them as pressing or of direct concern to daily life
Term
opinion poll
Definition
a method of systematically questioning a small, selected sample of respondents who are deemed representative of the total populations. Opinion polls are widely used by government, business, university scholars, political candidates, and voluntary groups to provide reasonably accurate data on public attitudes, beliefs, expectation, and behavior.
Term
sampling error
Definition
the differnece between a sample's results and the true result if the entire population.
Term
political socialization
Definition
the process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes
Term
peer group
Definition
a group consisting of memebers sharing common relevant social characteristics. These groups play an important part in the socialization process, helping to shape attitudes and beliefs
Term
generational effect
Definition
a long-lasting effect of events of a particularr time period on the political opinions or preferences of those who came of political age at that time
Term
opinion leader
Definition
one who is able to influence the opinions of others because of position, expertise, or personality
Term
media
Definition
the technical means of communication with mass audiences
Term
gender gap
Definition
a term most often used to describe the difference between the percentage of votes a candidate receives from women and the percentage of votes the candidate receives from men
Term
political trust
Definition
the degree to which individuals express trust in the government and political institutions, usually measured through a specific series of survey questions
Term
ideologue
Definition
an individual whose political opinions are carefully thought out and relatively consistent with one another
Supporting users have an ad free experience!