| A | B |
|---|
| Public opinion | aims to understand the distribution of the population's belief about politics and policy issues |
| Demography | The science of human populations. |
| Census | The actual count of people in the United States. This count is taken every 10 years |
| Immigration society | There have been 3 great waves of immigration |
| First wave of immigration | Northwestern Europeans: English, Irish, Germans, and Scandinavians |
| Second wave of immigration | Southern and Eastern Europeans: Italians, Jews, Poles, and Russians |
| Third wave of immigration | Hispanics and Asians |
| Melting pot | A mixture of cultures, ideas, and peoples. |
| Minority Majority | White anglo saxons will no longer be the majority |
| Simpson-Mazzoli Act | Required employers to document the citizenship of their employees |
| Political Culture | An overall set of values widely shared within a society |
| What is the regional shift? | Over the last 60 years, the sunbelt (California, Texas, and Florida) has had the greatest population growth |
| What is reapportionment | It occurs after every census. House seats are reallocated (Redistributed) based on the states population change. |
| What is the graying in America? | The fastest growing population in America are people over the age of 65 |
| Political socialization | How people understand politics |
| The process of political socialization | 1. The family 2. The media 3. School |
| Learning over a lifetime | One learns about politics throughout life. |
| How are polls conducted? | 1. Sample 2. Random Sampling 3. Sampling error 4. Random digit dilaling |
| What is a sample? | A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen as representative of the whole |
| What is random sampling? | Operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected |
| What is sampling error? | The level of confidence which depends on the size of the sample. The more people interviewed in a poll, the more confident one can be of the results. |
| What is random digit dialing? | Samples that are selected through a machine that randomly calls houses and asks for opinions |
| What is an exit poll? | Public opinion survey that is used by major media pollsters to predict the electoral winners with speed and precision. May discourage people from voting |
| What do polls do in American Democracy? | 1. Polls help political candidates detect public preferences 2. Polls may make politicians followers rather than leaders 3. Polls can distort the election process 4. Polls can be manipulated by altering the wording of questions |
| What do polls reveal about Americans' Political information? | Americans are not well informed about politics |
| What is a political ideology? | A coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy. |
| Most americans choose which ideology label? | Conservative over liberal |
| Which groups want to see the government do more? | Liberals |
| Groups with more political clout tend to be? | Conservative |
| The gender gap, has made women more likely to support which ideology? | Democratic |
| Political participation | Encompasses the many activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue |
| Conventional Participation | The majority of Americans participate only by voting in presidential elections |
| Protest | Is designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics. |
| Civil disobedience | Consciously breaking the law, because they think the act is unjust. |
| Class, inequality, and participation | Lower rates of political participation among minority groups are linked with lower socioeconomic status |
