● Ideology
○ Beliefs and ideas that shape political opinion and policy
● American Political Culture
● Political Socialization
○ A continuous process in which a person develops their ideology through different factors and experiences
● Demographic Characteristics
● Globalization
○ Growth of cultural and economic relationships between nations
○ Grows due to rise in technology
● Generational Effects
○ Experiences shared by people of the same age (generation) that shape their ideologies and political attitude
● Lifecycle Effects
○ Individual experiences and factors that shape an individual’s ideologies and political attitude
○ Occurs over a lifetime
● Period Effects
○ Major events and social trends that shape the political attitude of the entire population
● Formative Age
○ 18-24
○ The years in which an individual develops lasting political attitudes
● Party Realignment
○ A political party undergoes a major change in their political agenda
○ Accommodates to issues or voting blocs
● Public Opinion
○ The people’s preferences and opinions towards certain issues or political figures
○ Measured through polls and surveys
● Measuring Terminology
○ Population = entire group of people that want to study
○ Sample = group of people from the population that researchers study to gauge the population’s opinion
○ Random Sample = randomized process of selecting a sample, ensures everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected
○ Margin of Error = range in which data and results are considered accurate
● Types of Polls
● Factors Evaluated
○ Intensity = how strong people hold an opinion
○ Manifest Opinion = opinions held by a widespread amount of people
○ Salience = individual measure of how an issue affects that individual
● Errors in Polling
○ Leads to misleading, inaccurate, imprecise information
○ Biased Questions = questions worded in a specific way that influences the response
○ Small Sample Size = small samples have large margins or error, thus less precise and accurate
○ Lack of Disclosure = polls or surveys in which the researcher does not disclose the methods in which they performed their research
■ Makes data unreliable
■ Researchers should follow proper scientific methods
● Types of Ideologies
Ideology and Associated Party Description of Beliefs
● Policy Mood
○ Measure of the public’s attitude and preferences towards policies
● Position Issue
○ Issue that divides voters
● Valence Issue
○ Issue that voters should agree on
● Methods of Participating in Policy Making
○ Join interest groups
○ Communication with politicians and policy-makers
○ Run for office
● Fiscal Policy
○ Decisions on how the government manages the economy through taxing and spending
● Monetary Policy
○ Decisions on how the government manages the economy through control of the money supply and interest rates
● Keynesian Economics
○ Philosophy that encourages government spending to promote economic growth stability
● Supply-Side Economics
○ Philosophy that encourages tax cuts and deregulation to promote economic growth and stability
● Laissez-Faire
○ “Hands-Off” Government
■ Government should have little interference
● Government Intervention
○ How much the government acts in regards to one’s life
● Individual Liberties
○ Individual rights of the people guaranteed by the Constitution (& Bill of Rights)
○ Should not be violated
● Social Policy