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Unit One
Political Culture, Public Opinion, Political Participation
38
Political Studies
12th Grade
09/20/2009

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Term
Activists
Definition
An individual, usually outside of gov't who actively promotes a political party, philosophy, or issue he or she cares about.
Term
Australian Ballot
Definition
A government printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret that was adopted by many states around 1890 in order to reduce the voting fraud associated with party printed ballots cast in public.
Term
Civic Competence
Definition
A belief that one can effect gov't policies.
Term
Civic Duty
Definition
A belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs.
Term
Class Conciousness
Definition
An awareness of beonging to a particular socioeconomic class whose interests are different from those of others. Usually used in reference to workers who vies their interests as opposite those of managers and business owners.
Term
Conservative
Definition
In general, a person who favors more limited and local gov't, less gov't regulation of markets, more social conformity to traditional noms and values, and tougher policies towards criminals.
Term
Focus Group
Definition
Technique used by pollsters to determine how a cross section of voters feels about a particular topic.
Term
Gender Gap
Definition
Differences in the political views and voting behavior of men and women.
Term
Grandfather Clause
Definition
A clause added to registration laws allowing people who did not meet registration requirements to wote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867. This was to exempt poor and illiterate whites from registration requirements established to keep former slaves from voting. The Supreme Court declared the practice unconstitutional.
Term
John Q. Public
Definition
The average man or woman in the street, the "little guy", the "common man"
Term
Liberal
Definition
In general, a person who favors a more active federal government for regulating business, supporting social welfare, and protecting minority rights, but who prefers less regulation of private social conduct.
Term
Libertarians
Definition
People who wish to maximize persolnal liberty on both economic and social issues. They prefer a small, weak government that has little control over either the economy or the personal lives of citizens.
Term
Literacy Laws
Definition
Declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, they were passed by southern states after the Civil War aimed at making a reading requirement for voting so that freed slaves could not vote.
Term
Literacy Test
Definition
A requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. It was established in many states to prevent former slaves from voting. Illiterate whites were allowed to vote by a "Grandfather Clause".
Term
Middle America
Definition
A ohrase coined by the late Joseph Kraft in a 1968 newspaper column to refer to Americans who have moved out of poverty but are not yet affluent and who cherish traditional middle-class values.
Term
Norm
Definition
Standard of right or proper cunduct that helps determine the range of acceptable social behavior and policy options.
Term
Orthodox
Definition
People who believe that moral rules are derived from the commands of God or the laws of nature, commands, and laws that are relatively clear, unchanging, and independent of individual moral preferences. They are likely to believe that traditional morality is mroe important than individual liberty and should be enforced by government and communal norms.
Term
Political Culture
Definition
A broadly shared way of thinking about political and economic life that reflects fundamental assumptions about how government should operate. It is distinct from political ideology which refers to a more or less consistent set of views about the policies government ought to follow. Up to a point, people sharing a common political culture can disagree about ideology.
Term
Political Efficacy
Definition
Sense of, a citizen's belief that he or she can understand and influence politcal affairs. This sense is divided into two parts- internal efficacy (confidence in a citizen's own abilities to understand and take part in politcal affairs) and external efficacy ( a belief that the system will respond to a citizen's demands)
Term
Political Elite
Definition
An identifiable group of persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource- such as money or political power.
Term
Politcal Ideologies
Definition
A more or less consistent set of views as to the policies government ought to pursue.
Term
Political Socialization
Definition
The factors that determine voting behavior such as family, religion, and ethnic background.
Term
Poll
Definition
a survey of public opinion
Term
Poll Tax
Definition
Made illegal by the 24th Amendment, a tax instituted by mainly southern states as a condtion to vote and had the effect of preventing African Americans from voting.
Term
Populists
Definition
People who hold liberal view on economic matters and conservative on social matters. They prefer a strong government that will reduce economic inequality, regulate business, and impose stricter social and criminal sactions. The name and views have their origins in an agriculturally based social movement and party of the 1880's and 1890's that sought to curb the power of influential economic interests.
Term
Progressive (social)
Definition
People who believe that moral rules are derived in part from an individual's beliefs and the circumstances of modern life. They are likely to favor government tolerance and protection of individual choice.
Term
Public Opinion Polls
Definition
Scientific surveys aimed at gauging public preference on candidates and issues.
Term
Random Sample
Definition
Aa sample selected in such a way that any member of the population being surveyed has an equal chance of being interviewed.
Term
Registered Voters
Definition
People who are registered to vote. While almost all adult American citizens are theoretically eligible to vote, only those who have completed a registration form by the required date may do so.
Term
Religious Traditions
Definition
The moral teachings of religious institutions on religious, social, and economic issues.
Term
Sampling Error
Definition
The difference between the results of two sureveys of samples. For example, if one random sample shows that 60% of all Americans laike cats and another random sample taken at the same time shows that 65% do, the sampling error is 5%
Term
Silent Majority
Definition
A phrase udes to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960's.
Term
Social Status
Definition
A measure of one's socail standing obtained by combining factors such as education, income, and occupation.
Term
Solid South
Definition
Dominance by the Democratic party in the South following the Civil War. The Republicans made strong inroads when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980 and after the Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994.
Term
Suffrage
Definition
The right to vote guaranteed to African Americans in the 14th Amendments and women in the 19th Amendment.
Term
Voting-Age Population
Definition
The citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching minimum age requirement. In the United States, a citizen must be at least 18 years old in order to vote.
Term
White Primary
Definition
The practice of keeping black from voting in the primary elections (at the time, the only meaningful election in the one-part South was the Democratic primary) through arbitrary implementation of registration requirements and intimidation. Such practices were declared unconstitutional in 1944.
Term
Work Ethic
Definition
A belief in the importance of hard work and personal achievement.
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