Poli 100 Book Quiz 2 1/2

focus groups small gatherings of individuals used to test ideas before marketing elites individuals in a position of authority, often those with a higher level of education than the population at large public opinion opinions held by private individuals that governments find it prudent to heed political culture the dominant values and beliefs of a political community straw poll an unscientific survey of popular views political socialization the process by which individuals adopt the attitudes, values, beliefs, and opinions of their political culture life cycle effects the impact of age-related factors in the formation of political attitudes, opinions, and beliefs generational effects the impact of events experienced by a generational cohort on the formation of common political orientations cohort the members of one's own generation gender gap systematic variation in political opinions that exists between males and females direction the attribute of an individual's opinion that indicates a preference for or against a particular issue salience the attribute of an individual's opinion that indicates how central it is to her or his daily concerns stability the attribute of an individual's opinion that measures how consistently it is held informational support the attribute of an individual's opinion that measures his or her amount of knowledge concerning the issue benchmark survey a campaign poll that measures a candidate's strength at the time of entrance into the electoral race trial heat survey a campaign poll that measures the popularity of competing candidates in a particular electoral race tracking polls campaign pols that measure candidates' relative strength on a daily basis push poll campaign tactic that attacks an opponent while pretending to be a poll exit poll interviews of voters as they leave the polling place scientific polls any poll using proper sampling designs sample the individuals whose opinions are actually measured population the people whose opinions are being estimated through interviews with samples of group members probability sampling a sample design showing that each individual in the population has a known probability of being included in the sample simple random sampling technique of drawing a sample for interview in which all members of the targeted population have the same probability of being selected for interview systematic sampling a sample design to ensure that each individual in the population has an equal chance of being chosen after the first name or number is chosen at random the measures of the degree of accuracy of a poll based on the size of the sample sampling error leading question a question worded to suggest a particular answer desired by the pollster nonattitudes opinions generated by a poll that do not exist in reality political cynicism the view that government officials look out mostly for themselves political efficacy the belief that an individual's actions can have an impact on the political process political ideology a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the role of government liberalism political philosophy that combines a belief in personal freedoms with the belief that the government should intervene in the economy to promote greater equality conservatism political philosophy that rests on belief in traditional instituions and a minimal role for government in economic activity populist political philosophy expressing support for greater economic equality and for traditional social values libertarianism political philosophy that espouses strong support for individual liberty in both social and economic areas of life ideologue one who thinks about politics almost exclusively through the prism of his or her ideological perspective BUYcotting using purchasing decisions to support the products and policies of businesses rational actor theory the theory that choices are based on our individual assessment of costs and benefits free riders those who enjoy the benefits from activities without paying the costs of participation political engagement psychological predisposition toward or interest in politics political interest an attribute of political participants that measures one's concern for an election outcome and the positions of the candidates on the issues internal political efficacy an individual's self-confidence in his or her ability to understand and participate in politics external political efficacy an individual's belief that his or her activities will influence what the govt will do or who will win an election political information a measure of the amount of political knowledge an individual possesses concerning political issues, political figures, and the workings of the political system strength of party identification the degree of loyalty that an individual feels toward a particular political party political mobilization process whereby citizens are alerted to participatory opportunities and encouraged to become involved direct mobilization process by which citizens are contacted personally by candidate and party organizations to take part in political activities indirect mobilization process by which political leaders use networks of friends and acquaintances to activate political participation voter fatigue a tendency to tire of the process of voting as a result of frequent elections checkbook democracy a term that expresses the notion that little is required of citizens beyond their cash consumer activism the practice of making a political or social statement with one's buying power