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24 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
margin of error
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1. the range of certainty which measures how accurately a random poll sampling reflects the population at large. 2. The larger the sample the smaller the margin of error. 3. if the statistical difference between candidates is within the margin of error the poll findings are ruled non-conclusive and insignificant.
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political socialization
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the process by which we learn and acquire our political attitudes and opinions
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impact of family
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generally, partisan identification and level of political involvement is determined by the family.
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impact of school
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the level of education is the single biggest predictor for the political participation of an individual
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generation effects
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Particular political events which influence an entire generation of people, shaping their political attitudes and perspectives.
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aging effects
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changes in political attitude and participation as an individual ages.
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horse race coverage
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the way in which the media often covers a presidential election; focusing on who's ahead and behind like a horse race, rather than informing the public of their policy positions
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trends in media dependency
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the media is virtually our only access to information; media attention also sets the agenda, introduces the debate subjects.
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two-step model of media influence
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argues that the media influences the smaller more attentive public who subsequently mediates the learned information to the general public, interpretively framing the issues in a manner that effects the way they think of issues.
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party realignments
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a period in which a subordinate minority party becomes the dominant majority party.
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party dealignment
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Reflect the current political situation in which there is no dominant political party and neither party has a clear advantage; could be related to the augmentation of independent voters.
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major reasons why US has a 2 party system
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1. electoral college discourages 3rd parties
2. single-member plurality districts 3. ballot access problems, petition requirements in certain states 4. presidential debate |
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weakened political parties
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1. open primaries, 2. civil service reform/merit system decreased the ability to reward the faithful with employment 3. social welfare 4. creation of media campaigns and professional campaign management firms
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early primaries
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give presidential campaigns legitimacy, particularly critical for the smaller underdog candidates for name recognition and financing
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impact of electoral college on pres campaigns
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1. focus on states, esp. swinger states 2. candidate w/biggest pop vote could lose 3. tampers 3rd party candidates 4. magnifies electoral margin of candidates
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low voter turn out
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stricter voter registration, voting diversity, voter fatigue, 2 party system narrow range of choice discouraging turn out, inconvenient election day.
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prospective model assumptions
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1. parties are united/cohesive.
2. clear policy positions that are different from one another 3. voters understand issue differences and vote on the issue basis 4. candidates implement policy once voted into office |
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prospective model problems
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1. variation w/in parties 2. ame voter market 3.conflicting issue information 4. difficult policy implementation.
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three major roles of the media
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1. "watchdog" over elected officials, free press
2. clarifying electoral choices for voters 3. provides policy information and the alternatives, so voters can make reasonable choices. |
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problems for media
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1. mutually dependent relationship
2. edit out boring, focus on the dramatic human interests 3. horse-race coverage |
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low voter turn out
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low compared to other western democracies. represents a fraction of the american people. less reflective of the public as a whole. nonvoters=poor uneducated public.
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non-issue voting
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not everyone is voting on the basis of issues in terms of policy preferences, but rather on the candidate's image/characteristics.
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variation and intensity of issues
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People cannot vote in a way that would perfectly reflect their policy preferences. there are only a few candidates represent a multiplicity of issues. no one candidate can express the issue preferences of the voters.
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party contributions
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recruit candidates, finance coordinate and finance campaigns; create and mobilize a majority of voters to vote for your candidate, stimulating political interests; opposition party increases awareness and hold elected officials accountable, aggregate interests; simplifies voter choice.
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