AP Gov Chap 6 – Flashcards
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public opinion
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attitudes held by a significant number of people on government and political issues
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factors influencing public opinion
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family
school
opinion leaders
media
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opinion leaders
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-there are two types: formal and informal
-formal: someone who actually goes out and tries to influence the opinion of others (ex: priest, elected people, those involved in politics) They drive the formation of opinions
-informal: people will follow because of their personality (teachers, celebrities)
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media
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80% and is the main source of political info
they deal with public agenda and electoral politics
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public agenda
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issues we want to focus on (views of media + politicians + people)
They decide what to talk about based on public opinion
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electoral politics
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process of electing someone, with the increase in technology (TV, internet, etc.) campaigns are run completely different now than in the 1950s or earlier
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How electoral politics are different now from the 1950s and earlier?
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they use to go on whistle stop tours--candidates travel on train and make brief stops at places
sound bytes, visual images, 1st televised commercial, and 1st televised presidential events changed this over time
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3 types of opinions
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consensus
divisive
nonopinion
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consensus
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most people agree on issues (2/3 to 3/4)
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divisive
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different people hold widely different attitudes (51%-49%)
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nonopinion
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lack of interest or not enough information on an issue
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war is
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divisive or consensus
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the economy is
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divisive
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abortion is
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divisive
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"Black Lives Matter" is
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nonopinion
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birth control is
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consensus
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presidential/congressional approval rating is
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divisive
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Obamacare is
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divisive and nonopinion
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Ways the media holds a large role in shaping public opinion
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-through agenda-setting: they tell us the things that are important in society and the big issues
-through managed news: the ability of the government to determine what gets out--to a certain degree
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What does the media include?
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radio, television, print media, internet, social media
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What impact does media have on the popular culture?
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-television satire programming-Daily Show, SNL, Late Night shows (Fallon, Colbert, etc.)
-the President in TV and Film: "The Palmer Effect"
-we shape our political ideologies through tv and movies. The way they portray things is the way we view these things
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political socialization
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all of the complex influences that go into how people see the political world and their role within it
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two factors of political socialization
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sociological
psychological
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sociological factors
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personal social characteristics/demographics (income, occupation, education, sex, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, family, etc)
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psychological factors
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how a voter sees or views the parties, the candidates, and the issues in an election
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two effects on a voter
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life cycle effect
generational effect
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life cycle effect
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concept that people change as they grow older because of age-specific experiences and thus are likely to hold age-specific attitudes
only effects YOU
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factors of life cycle effect
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income, life experiences, war
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generational effect
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a long-lasting effect of the events of a particular time on the political opinions or those who came of political age at that time
effects the WHOLE GENERATION
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examples of the generational effect
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The Great Depression, WWII, Cold War, Watergate Break-In, Reagan's presidency, 9/11
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people who experienced the Great Depression are more likely to
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save their money and support social programs
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people who experienced WWII and the Cold War are more likely to
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support nationalism and AMERICA! support what the government does
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people who witnessed the Watergate Break-In are more likely to
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not trust the government and are least likely to vote
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people who lived during the time of Reagan's presidency are more likely to
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favor a smaller government, trickle down economic policy, and spend more
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people who experienced 9/11 are more likely to
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want security and support the patriot act
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things that affect the voting behavior of someone
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education, economic status, religion, race/gender
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trend on regional voting
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voting tends to be fairly uniform among states, meaning certain regions of the country will tend to vote for certain candidates
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What is a purple state?
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a mix of people--republicans and democrats (red and blue make purple)
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History of opinion polls
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19th century straw polls and Literary Digest in early 20th century to Gallup Pulls/Push Pulls
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straw pulls
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polls where the person would talk to someone face-to-face or send them something in the mail
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Literary Digest
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in the 20th century that worked before the Great Depression--It was a magazine that people subscribed to and answered to a pull in the magazine. Once the Great Depression hit, it was bias because people who didn't have enough money to subscribe would not be counted in the polls
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Gallup Pulls
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started by George Gallup who thought polls should be run by calling telephone numbers at random so that it wouldn't be bias; called random sampling
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goal of random sampling
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2,000
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sampling error
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the difference between a sample's results and the true result if the entire population had been interviewed
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Push polls
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using misleading information to impact an opinion