AP U.S. Government Chapter 6 – Flashcards

1. Prior to the late 19th century: northwestern Europeans constituted the first wave of immigrants (English, Irish, Germans, and Scandinavians) 2. During late 19th and early 20th century: Southern and eastern Europeans made up much of the 2nd wave (Italians, Jews, Poles, Russians, and others) 3. Recent decades (1980s,1990s, 2000s): Hispanics (Cuba, Central America, and Mexico) and Asians (Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines...) and are the most recent wave

A U.S. state or other jurisdiction whose racial composition is less than 50%white. 'White' in this context means Non-Hispanic Whites. Racial data are derived from self-identification questions on the census and census bureau estimates.

To curb the employment of illegal aliens by forcing employers to document the citizenship of their employees

1. Immigration: The massive influx of new peoples, new ideas, and new political ideologies will shape the sort of things that our politicians attempt to pander to, and the people who get elected to political office. 2. Regional Shifts: As more and more people move from the northeast to other areas, the fact that the Electoral College exists will become a major issue. As demographics become more mixed due to moving politicians, more people will get tired of their voices not being heard due to the electoral colleges. Also, there will be a different proportion of house representation. 3. Aging Population:

1. Family: biggest factor in socialization in our society. Most dystopias have, as abase understanding, a lack of strong family units. Basically, though, one is about sixty percent likely to follow their parent's political leanings. Parents are the main people who input your morals and beliefs, are a major part of one's environment and culture, and are the single greatest factor in political socialization 2. Mass Media: More and more people are tuning into television instead of spending time with their family. In fact, grade-school age children watch more TV than they do go to school. 3. Schools: All public schools are designed to help socialize the youth, whether through civics class, public service, or mathematics to simply make the student more intelligent. An educated student is a model student

1. As people age, people tend to grow more attached to a certain party 2. As people age, people tend to become more politically involved

There most important part of a poll is the question asked, followed closely by the sample asked. the people asked in a poll are important. The principle of random sampling, or randomly choosing people for the poll in a manner that draws a diverse sample, is vital to having an accurate poll. There also has to be a decent sized sample. It doesn't have to be huge, but it must be large enough to accurately model the diversity of the American people.

calls are placed to phone numbers within randomly chosen exchanges around the country. It calls people randomly, whether listed or unlisted

1. Politicians become more interested in following public opinion than leading 2. The bandwagon effect: people follow the larger group instead of sticking to principles 3. Altering the wording of a question allows pollsters to get the answers they want.

the American political system works as well as it does, given the discomforting lack of public knowledge about politics

Most Americans simply do not think government is capable of doing the job well enough or fairly enough to help the less well off at the same time it protects the interests of the better off

General Beliefs: Spend less on military, more on the poor, and support the Bill of Rights. Very social minded, Keynesian economics Typical Demographic Characteristics: Younger, minorities, labor unions, women

General Beliefs: More military spending, less taxes and more fiscal discipline, harsher on crime, free market Typical Demographic Characteristics: Older, Evangelics, fundamentalists, wealthier

Lawmaker's morals and ideas on society are often shaped by their religion. Most religions tend to be socially conservative in matters like abortion and Gay rights, these ideals are reflected in legislations

1. political elites 2. voting* 3. working in campaigns 4. contacting government officials 5. working on local community issues

Civil disobedience is a conscious decision to break an unjust law, regardless of the consequences. An example would be when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a local bus in Montgomery Alabama

Minority groups are participating more in recent years, due to what the book calls a "group consciousness" that gives them an extra incentive to vote

It's constantly changing. For the most part, people don't think about it. However, most republicans tend to believe the scope of the government is too big, unless it's the stealing of civil liberties being discussed

The general ignorance of people is a great threat to our liberties. When people lose interest in public policy, they are more easily manipulated. I think people have to always keep an eye on the government and always be essentially skeptical and demanding* (in the context of fulfillment of campaign promises)of their political officers

The distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues

the science of population changes

The mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation. The United States, with its history of immigration, has often been called this

The emergence of a non-Caucasian majority, as compared with a White, generally Anglo-Saxon majority. It is predicted that by about 2060, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans together will outnumber White Americans

an overall set of values widely shared within a society

The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every ten years on the basis of the results of the census

According to Richard Dawson, "the process through which an individual acquires his [or her] particular political orientations- his [or her] knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his [or her] political world".

A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole

The key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample

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

A technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted members when conducting a survey

Public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision

A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies

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

All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue. The most common but not the only means of this is voting. Other means include protest and civil disobedience

A form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics

A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences

A census is the other common direct method of collecting demographic data

The US has been called a melting pot; but policy makers now speak of a new minority majority because it is estimated that all the minority groups combined should pass the fifty percent mark by the year 2060

Political Ideology is a comprehensive, integrated set of views about government and politics. The opinions held by private opinions held by private persons which government feels it prudent to heed

A sample is a small portion of the population that is representative of the population as a whole this is subject to many factors that may negate the value of the poll. Random Sampling is sampling at random which makes the value of the poll more representative of the general population. Sampling error is caused by observing a sample instead of the whole population

Random-digit dialing is a method for selecting people for involvement in telephone statistical surveys by generating telephone numbers at random. An exit poll is a poll of people leaving a polling place, asking how they voted

A protest is a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something, while civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest

melting pot

political culture

reapportionment

political socialization

public opinion

random sampling

exit poll

political ideology

gender gap

political participation