AP Gov Unit 4: Political Ideologies and Beliefs

Law and order over liberty, traditions and institutions, small gov’t with fewer regulations, harsher punishment for crimes, less gov’t involvement for equality

Liberty over law and order, progression and change, bigger gov’t with more regulations on marketplace, more gov’t involvement for equality

Belief in the fundamental worth and importance in the individual… rooted in Enlightened philosophy and American values (natural rights!)

Belief that all people should have equal opportunities to pursue life, liberty, and happiness (does not mean equality for all people!)

Belief that gov’t should have fewer regulations on the economy

All members of society are held to the same rules and laws, regardless of position or status (nobody is above the law!)

Process through which a person develops political beliefs throughout their life, shaped by family, geography, schooling, etc. Also affected by major political/economic events

Process of an ever-expanding and increasingly interactive world economy and society

Voting patterns differ between generations; impressionable age hypothesis says people form beliefs between ages 18-24

Variety of physical, social, and psychological changes people go through as they age and change their priorities

A general population’s given beliefs toward a certain issue, gov’t action, candidate, or elected officials

Used to gauge attitudes on an issue or support in an election in a cross-section of the population

First polls conducted by a campaign that measure support for a candidate, gathers info about issues people care about

Ask questions to measure how voters feel about an issue and how they may vote on election day… help campaigns track issues and gauge how. candidate is faring

Conducted outside voting locations to try and predict electoral outcomes… used buy media to see how certain demographics may vote

Type of poll in which the respondent is asked if they approve of the president’s job performance—yes or no

Small group of citizens who are gathered to hold conversations about issues or candidates… less reliable/scientific than other polls, but allow for better examination and questioning

Group of people that reflect characteristics of entire population involved in a certain issue… nationally representative sampling has 1,500 respondents. This is what pollsters desire! AKA “universe”

Occurs when 2 identical polls receive 2 different results due to human bias, non-attitudes, uninformed respondents, push polls, etc.

Statistic difference between 2 identical polls… + or - 4 is satisfactory

Campaign tactic where political parties try to influence prospective voters into supporting a certain candidate/position through the appearance of conducting a legit opinion poll

Real effect in which support of a candidate/position increases after results of a good poll due to belief that said candidate/position is popular

Respondents answer polls in a way that they think pollsters want them to respond

Issues that a majority of Americans can agree on regardless of party

Issues used by political groups to gain support for a party/candidate

Voters that oppose gov’t intervention with a high regard for liberties, opposition to taxes, and a dislike for gov’t imposed morality (usually socially liberal and economically conservative)

Tend to be more religious, middle-to-lower class rural working people, usually nationalistic and less sympathetic to issues like immigration and crime

Tend to support urban working class, believe taxes should be raised on the wealthy and corporations. Tend to be very socially liberal

Interaction of people and gov’t in order to put into place and carry out will of the majority

Policy making that occurs as a result of influence of interest groups, i.e. funding/opinion, etc

Part of economy concerned with gov’t spending and taxation… how gov’t decides to spend tax revenue (determined by POTUS and Congress)

How gov’t manages supply/demand of its currency and thus the value of the dollar

Rising prices and devaluation of the dollar… occurs when there’s too many dollars in circulation

Independent gov’t agency tasked with setting monetary policy… determines how much currency is in the market, interest rates for banks, etc.

Taxes increase as income increases; the tax rate currently followed in the US

All incomes taxed equally; desired by some conservatives

Economic theory that emphasizes gov’t spending and deficits can help economy during economic downturn… uses power of gov’t to regulate economy and create right level of demand (usually more liberal)

Economic theory where gov’t lowers taxes and cuts social programs to give money to citizens… cut taxes for businesses, who will funnel that saved money to hiring/paying, people will have and spend more money (trickle down theory, usually more conservative)

North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994; established a free-trade zone between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Lifted tariffs on the majority of goods produced by the signatory nations

Encourages reduced tariffs, low prices, and more trade… goods are purchased at a cheaper price but worries about outsourcing hurting American workers

Support for disadvantaged people to meet their basic needs… took off in the 1930s/60s with New Deal and Great Society. Conservatives and liberals debate over how much gov’t should fund programs

Extensive gov’t funded welfare programs, favored by liberals, funded/determined by Congress through mandatory spending. Conservatives want to cut them to lower taxes

Gov’t-run healthcare program for citizens over 65 years old, able to cover up to 85%of health related expenses

Healthcare program for impoverished who can’t afford necessary medical expenses (must be disabled, pregnant, or meet minimum-income requirements)

Safety net made in form of payments for elderly and people out of work

Individual places personal interests above group interests… favors less gov’t intervention

Individual freedom is sacrificed for greater good… gov’t should be more involved to promote greater good