5 to 5 AP Government Chapter 8: Political Culture

• political culture translates into a consensus of basic concepts that support democracy. Democracy is not guaranteed; therefore the American people must continue to practice these concepts:
  • majority rule/minority rights - democracy is based upon majority rule but minority rights must be given
  • equality - equality for every individual before the law
  • private property - ownership if any property is protected by the law 
  • individual freedoms - guarantees liberty and protection
  • compromise - allows for different interests to form a public policy that benefits society
  • limited government - powers of the government is restricted by the people and the law 
• Political Socialization - process where citizens create a sense of political identity
  • allows citizens to become aware of politics, learn political facts, and form political values and opinions
  • many factors and influences shape their political views including: 
    • family and home influences 
    • schools teach patriotism 
    • interest groups and organizations create bonds 
    • occupation, gender, age, race, etc.
    • mass media 
    • opinion leaders - those held in high regards because of their position
    • large events such as the Watergate scandal 
• Public opinion - collection of shared attitudes of many different people in matters relating to politics; shaped by people’s political culture and political socialization
• Early polling in the United States involved the use of straw polls, asking the same question of a large number of people.
• 1930s - George Gallup helped develop the use of a scientific polling process that includes:
  • sampling - those chosen to participate in the poll must be representative of the general population and chosen at random
  • preparing valid questions - directions should be clear and questions should be phrased in an unbiased way
  • controlling how the poll is taken - make sure the respondent has some knowledge of the issues addressed in the poll
  • analyzing and reporting results - reporting the results of polls without providing information about how the poll was conducted or sampling errors
• Ideology - is a consistent set of beliefs
• Political ideology - is a set of beliefs about politics and public policy; political ideologies can change over time
  • Radical - Favors rapid change in existing social, economic, or political order; may be willing to resort to extreme means, even violence or revolution to accomplish such change
  • Liberal - Supports active government in promoting individual welfare and supporting civil rights, and accepts peaceful  change
  • Moderate - Political ideology that falls between liberal and conservative and which may include some of both; usually thought of as tolerant of others’
  • Conservative - Promotes a limited governmental role in helping individuals economically,  favors a more active role for government in promoting national security
  • Reactionary - Advocates a return to a previous state of affairs, often a social order or government that existed earlier in history