Name: ______Date:______Period:______

Unit 2 Review – Political Behavior

  • What was the total number of people eligible to vote in the 2000 election, number of people who actually voted, and number of people who made up the actual “non – voters?” 205.8 million, 105.4 million, 80 million
  • Poll (most useful for measuring what?) – most effective tool for measuring public opinion
  • How are interest groups and political parties similar?Both seek to influence government policies
  • Public opinion – the ideas and attitudes that a significant number of Americans hold about government and political issues
  • NAACP (main purpose) – single issue interest group concerned with civil rights
  • Voter Characteristics (most likely to vote, geographic party support, voting trends, ect.) Women more likely to vote; older people; minorities typically vote Democrat; South-Republican; East/West Coast – Democrat
  • Political party –group of people joined together on the basis of common principles who seek to control government and public policy
  • Splinter party – party that has broken off from one of the major parties
  • Single issue party – party that seeks to cause change on one public policy matter
  • Minor parties (major influence on government) – cause major parties to adopt their ideas
  • Literacy –a person’s ability to read and write
  • Independent – term used to describe those people who have no specific major party affiliation
  • Split ticket voting – practice of voting for candidates of more than one party
  • Voter qualifications – Citizens of United States, resident of state, 18
  • Voting discrimination (tools used) – literacy test, poll tax, fear tactics, no federal court order
  • Mass Media (definition, purpose with government) – All the means for communicating information to the general public such as newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and internet; directly influences public policy by choosing which issues and events receive exposure
  • Prior restraint (significance) – First Amendment restricts Federal, State, and Local government form prior restraint of the press
  • Random sampling – polling technique in which everyone in a group has an equal chance of being selected
  • Political socialization – process by which individuals learn their political beliefs and attitudes from family, school, friends, coworkers or other sources
  • Validity of sources – concept of how trustworthy sources are and understanding the political agenda
  • What does FCC regulate?Fees and Licenses
  • Reason that causes most tension between the press and government – National security leaks
  • Uses of social media politically– used mostly by people who are more involved politically
  • Why are shield laws important?To protect media outlets from revealing their sources
  • Online tools used by interest groups to recruit direct civic participation

Action alerts and electronic petitions