Chapter 1

Vocab Terms:

• Exit Poll-a poll of people leaving a polling place, asking how how they voted.
• Public Oppinion-views prevalent among the general public
• Authority-the power or right to give orders, make desicions, and enforce obidence
• Pluralism-a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, ect., coexist
• Hyperplyralism-groups are so strong that government is weakened.Extreme, exaggerated from of pluralism-subgovernments consist of a network of groups that exercise a great deal of control over specific policy
• Random Sampling-a subset of a statistical population in which each member of the subset has an equal probability of being chosen. A simple random sample is ment to be an unbiased representation of a group
• Political Socialization-the life long process and a cariety of individuals and instutions contribute to its shaping effect
• Public Policy-the principles, often unwritten, on which social laws are based
• Independents-an independent person or body, not tied to a group or person politically
• Minority Rights-the normal indiivdual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religous, lingustic, or sexual minorites; and also the collective rights according to these groups
• Sampling (error)-error in a statistical analysis arising from the unrepresentativeness of the sample taken
• Presidential Approval Rating-a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondants to an oppinion poll who approve of a particular person or program
• Policy Agenda-it is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that get the atention of/ is viewed as important by people involved in policy making
• Party Identification-an important attitude that influences the vote, most voters identify with one of the two major political parties, and these basic partisan loyalities influence the vote
• Government-the governing body of a nation, state, or community
• Democracy-a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, tipically through elected representives
• Reapportionment-when a person gets elected for a position again
• Majority Rule-the priniple that the greater number should exercise greater power
• Civil Disobedience-the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest
• Elitism-the advocacy or existence of an eliteas a dominating element in a system or society
• Legitimacy-undisputed credibility or authenticy
• Policy Making Instutions-these groups such as Congress, the Presidenicy, and the courts established by the constution to make policy
• Ideology-a system of ideas and ideals, espicially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy
• Political Participation-any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political sphere, ranging from voting to attending a rally to commiting an act of terroism to sending a letter to a representative
• Conservatives-a person who is averse to change and holds tarditional values and attitudes, tipically in relation to politics
• Single-issue Groups-these types of politics are a form of litmus test, groups that have only one specific interest, ie. animal rights, NRA, and abortion
• Liberals-a person with this type of views, typically in relation to politics
• Linkage Institutions-a structure within a society that connects the people to the government or centarlized authority, ie. elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media
• Political Culture-a set of attitudes and practices held by a people that shapes their political behavor, including moral judgements, political myths, and beliefs