| A | B |
|---|
| Baby boomers | the generation of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 |
| Cross-cutting cleavages | divisions that split society into small groups so that people have different allies and opponents in different policy areas, and no group forms a majority on all its issues |
| Feminization of poverty | the trend in the United States in which families headed by women account for a growing share of the people who live below the poverty line |
| Pluralism | the theory that political power is spread widely and that different groups of people exercise power on different issues |
| Rust Belt | the Rust Belt states are the major industrial states of the Northeast and Midwest. For the most part, they have not enjoyed great population or economic growth in the second half of the twentieth century |
| Sun Belt | the Sun Belt states are the states in the South, Southwest, and West Coast--areas that have experienced tremendous population and economic growth since 1950 |
| Attentive publics (issue publics) | people who follow a particular issue closely, are well informed about it, and have strong opinions on it |
| Attitude consistency | the degree to which a person's political opinions all fall at about the same point on the liberal-conservative dimension |
| Attitudes (opinions) | preferences on specific issues |
| Conservatism | the political philosophy that government should play a minimal role in society (except in the area of traditional moral values) with the goal of ensuring all its citizens economic freedom |
| Economic issues | issues relating to the distribution of income and wealth in society |
| Ideology | an elaborate set of interrelated beliefs with overarching, abstract principles that make people's political philosophies coherent |
| Issue publics (attentive publics) | people who follow a particular issue closely, are well informed about it, and have strong opinions on it |
| Left | the liberal end of the political spectrum |
| Liberalism | the political philosphy that government should play an expansive role in society (except in the area of personal morality) with the goal of protecting its weaker citizens and ensuring political and social equality for all citizens |
| Opinions (attitudes) | preferences on specific issues |
| Pro-choice | favoring the policy of allowing women to choose whether to have an abortion |
| Pro-life | favoring the policy of making abortion illegal |
| Right | the conservative end of the political spectrum |
| Social issues | issues based on moral or value judgments |
| Socialization | the process by which people acquire value and opinions from their societies |
| Values | basic principles which lead people to form opinions on specific issues |
| Australian ballot | a government-printed ballot (as opposed to on distributed by political parties) that allows people to vote in secret |
| Candidate characteristics | the chandidate's character, personality, experiences, past record, and physical appearance |
| Closing date | the last day before the election when on can register in order to vote--usually described in number days before Election Day |
| Easy issues | simple issues that allow voters to make quick, emotional decisions without much information |
| Franchise | the right to vote |
| Gender gap | the difference between men's and women's voting rates for either a Democratic or Republican candidate |
| Group consciousness | identification with one's social group (for instance, black consciousness) |
| Hard issues | complicated issues that require voters to have information about the policy and to spend time considering their choices |
| Literacy test | a test of ability to read and write, used in the South to prevent people from voting |
| Party identification | the psychological feeling of belonging to a particular political party, which influences voting behavior |
| Poll tax | before 1964, the tax that people paid in some states if they chose to vote |
| Prospective issue voting | deciding how to vote on the basis of candidate's likely policies |
| Retrospective issue voting | deciding how to vote on the basis of past policy outcomes |
| Sociotropic voters | people who vote on the basis of their community's economic interests, rather than their personal economic interests |
| Voter turnout | the percentage of people who actually vote |
| Civic competence | the belief that one can affect govt policies |
| Civic duty | the feeling that one ought to do one's share in community affairs, irrespective of concrete awards |
| Class consciousness | the awareness of belonging to a particular socioeconomic group whose interests are different from others' |
| Equal opportunity | condition in which people expect to have comparable chances to compete for rewards, though they may not be guaranteed |
| External efficacy | the belief that the system will respond to what its citizens do |
| Internal efficacy | the confidence in one's own ability to understand and take part in political affairs |
| Political culture | a distinctive patterned way of thinking about how political life should be carried out |
| Political efficacy | a citizen's capacity to understand and influence political events |
| Political ideology | a consistent set of views of the policies govt should pursue |
| Political tolerance | the willingness to allow people with whom one disagrees to have the full protection of the laws when they express their opinions |
| Work ethic | a set of values including working hard, saving money, and obeying the law |
| Libertarian | someone who is conservative on economic issues and liberal on personal conduct issues |
| Middle America | Americans who cherish middle-class values, who have moved out of poverty, but are not yet affluent |
| Norm | a standard of right or proper conduct that helps to determine the range of acceptable social behavior and policy options |
| Political elites | people who have a disproportionate amount of political power |
| Poll | a survey of public opinion |
| Populist | someone who is liberal on economic issues, and conservative on personal conduct issues |
| Random sample | a sample selected in a way that any member of the population being surveyed has an equal chance of being interviewed |
| Religious tradition | the moral teachings of religious institutions on religious, social, and economic issues |
| Sampling error | the difference between the results of two surveys or samples |
| Silent majority | a term used to describe people, regardless of economic status, who uphold traditional values (especially against the counterculture of the 1960s |
| Social status | a measure of one's social standing obtained by combining factors like education, income, and occupation |
| Yuppies | young, urban professionals |
| Activist | an individual who actively promotes a political party, philosophy, or issue he/she cares deeply about |
| Campaigners | persons who vote in elections AND get involved in campaigns |
| Communalists | persons who join organizations and participate in politics, but not in partisan campaigns |
| Motor-voter bill | a bill that requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when applying for a driver's license, and at some state offices that serve the disabled or poor |
| White primaries | a sourthern expedient to keep blacks from participating in primary elections |
| Twenty-sixth Amendment | legislation giving 18-year-olds the right to vote in ALL U.S. elections |
| Inactives | persons who avoid all forms of political participation |
| Grandfather clauses | requirement for individuals to automatically vote ONLY if his/her grandfather had voted (excluded former slaves and their descendents) |
| Fifteenth Amendment | legislation making it illegal to exclude potential voters on the basis of race (part of Civil War Amendments) |
| Nineteenth Amendment | legislation extending suffrage to women |
| Voter apathy | lack of interest among citizens in participating in elections |
| Voting Rights Act of 1970 | legislating giving 18-year-olds the right to vote in federal elections |
| Voting specialists | persons who restrict their political participation to voting in elections |
