AP GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
HAGEDORN
Political Beliefs & Behaviors
Chapters 5-6
Unit Overview: Topics covered in this unit comprise 10-20% of the multiple choice questions on
the AP Exam. Major themes include: political socialization, forms of political participation,
demographic influences, public opinion, agenda setting and role of the media.
Directions: Your task is to complete the nightly reading assignments and take notes over what
you read in outline form in a spiral notebook. Answers to the chapter objectives should be
included in your notes.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
What is public opinion?
Where do opinions come from?
How is public opinion measured?
What are the characteristics of US public opinion?
How does public opinion matter?
Who are the media, and how do they cover politics?
How is the internet affecting both the media business and what Americans know about
politics?
8) How do people use media to learn about politics?
9) How does media coverage influenced public opinion and policy?
10) Why is the media coverage of American politics the way it is?
Directions: Define all of the terms below in a spiral notebook reserved for AP Government
vocabulary only. Consult the glossary in your text for all definitions FIRST and consult another
source for any definition not found in your book SECOND. A vocabulary quiz will be given near
the end of the unit; 25 definitions, 25 blank lines. There is NO WORD BANK. Vocabulary
notebooks will be turned in on the day of the unit test. Late notebooks will not be accepted.
Things to remember:
 Number each term according to the list
 Skip a line in between definitions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Considerations
Exit polls
Demography
Ideological polarization
Issue scale
Latent opinion
Level of conceptualization
Liberal-conservative ideology
Mass survey
Policy mood
Political socialization
Population
Public opinion
Random sample
Sample
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
Sampling error
Attack journalism
Broadcast media
By-product theory
Concentration
Cross-ownership
Equal time provision
Fairness doctrine
Federal Communications
Commission
Filtering
Framing
Hard news
Horse race
Hostile media phenomenon
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
Investigative journalists
Leak
Mainstream media
Media conglomerates
Media effects
Narrowcasting
News cycle
Off the record
On background
Penny press
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
Press conference
Prime time
Priming
Random-digit dialing
Shield laws
Slant
Soft news
Trial balloon
Wire service
Yellow journalism
READING SCHEDULE
Read and take notes each night over the pages assigned. Label each reading assignment with
the appropriate page numbers and sections in the event you are given a pop quiz over a
certain section. Keep up with the reading schedule unless I tell you otherwise. This means if you
miss a class or there is a snow day, you are still responsible for the reading and note-taking.
Regardless of where we are in our discussion, you must keep up with the reading schedule.
Day
T 9/3
W 9/4
Th 9/5
F 9/6
M 9/9
T 9/10
W 9/11
Th 9/12
F 9/13
Tonight’s Bianco Reading Assignment
Ch.5 p. 143-153
p. 153-163
p. 163-178
p. 178-181
Ch.6 p. 185-196
p. 196-211
p. 211-215
Vocab Quiz
Unit 2 Test~ Vocab Due
Other Assignments
Complete ideological survey
True/False only
Catch-up