AP Gov. Chapter 6

Public Opinion and Political Action Census-every 10 years-Const.- Reapportionment Minority Majority ◦ Hisp 15% ◦ African Amer. 13% ◦ Asian Amer. 5% ◦ Native Amer. 1%

(cont.) Political Culture-overall set of values Political Ideology-beliefs about politics, public policy and public purpose ◦ Americans are thinking less ideological (decline of parties more split ticket voting)

Changes Regional shifts Greying of America

Political Socialization Family Religion Mass Media School (mostly nuts and bolts, though) *Participation rises with age

Public Opinion-how people feel Polling ◦ Sample ◦ Random Sample ◦ Sampling Error ◦ Random Digit Dialing ◦ Exit Poll

Types of Opinion Saliency ◦ Care more about certain issues (Union Workers) Stability ◦ Steadiness of issue (abortion steady/Pres. Approval not steady) Policy Congruence ◦ Level of connect between Gov. action and public opinion (Congress 1, Pres. 2 and SC 3)

Liberals and Conservatives Liberals ◦ Young ◦ People of Less Clout ◦ Women ◦ Minorities (blacks more than hispanics-religion) ◦ Less Religious Conservatives ◦ Old ◦ More Clout ◦ Men ◦ White (Asian minority exception) ◦ Religious *Gender gap reflects differences on size of Gov., guns, reproductive rights, gay rights and social programs **College tends to have liberalizing effect

Political Participation Conventional ◦ Voting/volunteering/running for office Unconventional ◦ Protest or civil disobedience/violence *Race and economics plays a part **Social class less important in the U.S. (rags to riches) ***Political Elite-disproportionate amount of valued resource

Political Efficacy Efficacy-knowledge Political Efficacy-knowledge of politics Internal Efficacy-belief in one’s own ability to take part in politics External Efficacy-belief that the political system will respond to citizens (going down especially at Fed. Level)