PSC 101 Exam 2 Study Guide PDF

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2nd exam study guide...

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PSC 101 SECOND EXAM STUDY GUIDE 1. Public opinion – definition, importance (text and lecture)     

The collective attitudes and beliefs of individuals on one or more issues; the preferences expressed by people on issues, policies, and individuals Helps individuals organize and make sense of the world Gauge of what Americans believe and expect Sets parameters for debate and policy action Interest groups must be considered

2. Variables that influence opinion formation (text and lecture)        

Economic class Partisanship and ideology Education Age Gender Race and ethnicity Religion Sectionalism

3. Issue stability, intensity (lecture) 4. Political socialization (text and lecture) 

The process by which we learn our political orientations and allegiances

5. “Agents” of socialization (text and lecture)       

Family Peer group School Church TV/media Organizations Political leaders

6. Ideology (definition and prevalence in society) (text and lecture)   

An organized set of beliefs concerning social goals and the best governmental arrangements for achieving them Liberal v conservative Different experiences cause Americans to be generally less ideological

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Social changes affect belief structures (i.e., becoming more conservative when you get older)

7. Voter turnout trends (text and lecture)   

Generally a decline in turnout since the 1950s Low turnout compared to other democracies Americans have low voter turnout but more people get involved in higher levels of participation such as running for office and working for campaigns

8. Variables that affect voter turnout (text and lecture)     

Older, richer, more education people vote more Strong party identification Being a member of a group (i.e., a union) If the election is perceived to be a close one more people will vote Perceived importance of the election, well know candidates, etc. can cause higher turnout

9. Gender gap (text and lecture)    

The tendency of men and women to differ in their political views on some issues Women are generally more liberal than men Women are less likely to support the death penalty and going to war Women are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates

10. Types of primaries (text and lecture)    

Closed primary can only vote if you’re registered with that party Open primary can vote in Republican or Democratic primary, but not both Blanket can vote for either party by office Run off when one candidate fails to get 50% of the vote, the top 2 candidates run again

11. Proximity, retrospective and prospective voting (from lecture and somewhat from text)   

Proximity voting voting for the candidate closest to you in a multi dimensional ideological space Retrospective voting voting for the candidate or party based on past performance (generally within the last 12 months) Prospective voting voting for the candidate or party based on presumed performance (who will do a better job with the current conditions)

12. Possible explanations why people don’t vote (from lecture and somewhat from text)    

Alienation Lack of efficacy Lack of interest/knowledge Confusion linked to too many elections

13. Roles of political parties (from lecture and somewhat from text)       

Provide/recruit candidates Conduct elections Educate the public Organize the government Make public policy Provide loyal opposition Provide a “cue” for voters

14. Levels of party organization (from lecture and somewhat from text)    

Party members Local party organizations State party organizations National party organizations

15. Characteristics of American political parties (lecture mostly)    

Two parties Highly centralized Semi-public, open organizations Loose coalitions that are fairly non-ideological

16. Constitutional status of political parties (lecture mostly)  

Founding Fathers distrusted political parties They are not included in the Constitution

17. Importance of parties (from lecture and somewhat from text)  

Group power Parties attempt to create broad coalitions

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Key to understanding how government is organized

18. Third parties – roles and disadvantages (lecture and text) 

Present challenge to two party system

19. Interest groups – definition and goals (from lecture and somewhat from text)    

Groups of individuals with a common interest who attempt to influence government policy Vital part of political process Biased Most Americans benefit from interest groups

20. Interest groups – types, resources, influence (lecture and text)   

Types: economic/business, professional, public, social, environmental, and single issues Resources: expertise, persuasion, publicity, and money Represent members’ views to government, provide an avenue for citizen participation, educate policymakers on issues, lobby to get issues on the agenda, suggest alternatives for how issues should be handled, keep tabs on laws once they are enacted

21. Founder’s attitudes about parties and interest groups (lecture and text) 

Didn’t like them and felt they should be avoided

22. PAC (text more than lecture)    

Political Action Committee Fundraising arms of interest groups Limited in how much money they can donate to campaigns but there are loopholes Act as a sort of interest group

23. Hard money, soft money and issue advocacy ads (text) 

Hard money campaign funds donated directly to candidates; amounts are limited by federal election laws

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Soft money unregulated campaign contributions by individuals, groups, or parties that promote general election activities but do not directly support individual candidates Issue advocacy ads advertisements paid for by soft money, and thus not regulated, that promote certain issue positions but do not endorse specific candidates

24. Agenda setting (lecture and text)    

Directing attention to specific topics Cues the public that something is important Media are businesses so they want to attract large audiences with dramatic headlines Selection bias towards headlines means media is providing less information about important political issues that aren’t “interesting” or “compelling”

25. “horse race journalism” or “handicapping role (text and lecture) 

Political journalism of elections that resembles coverage of horse races because of focus on polling data, public perception, and exclusive reporting on candidate differences rather than similarities

26. Framing (text and lecture)   

Influence how events are interpreted Uses carefully chosen words and images Most people rely on media frames to form opinions on legislation

27. Sound bites (from lecture and somewhat from text)  

Small quotes used by media to capture essence of a story Sometimes designed by candidates to be used by the media

28. Selective exposure, attention and perception (lecture and text)   

Selective perception your interpretations of the events shown Selective attention which stories we pay attention Selection exposure what media we use

29. Media bias (lecture and text)  Screened by personal perceptions  Market bias action, bad news, anti-incumbent...