AP Government | Unit 2 Study Guide
Political Beliefs & Behavior
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Chapter 6 Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice
I. The Nature of Public Opinion
A. How Informed is Public Opinion?
B. The Measurement of Public Opinion
1. Public Opinion Polls
2. Problems with Polls
II. Political Socialization: How Americans Learn Their Politics
A. The Process of Political Socialization
B. The Agents of Political Socialization
1. Families
2. Schools
3. Mass Media
4. Peers
5. Political Leaders and Institutions
6. Churches
III. Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically
A. Cultural Thinking: Common Ideas
B. Ideological Thinking: The Outlook of Some
C. Group Thinking: The Outlook of Many
1. Religion
2. Class
3. Region
4. Race and Ethnicity
5. Gender
6. Age
7. Crosscutting Cleavages
D. Partisan Thinking: The Line That Divides
IV. The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy
Chapter 7 Political Participation: Activating the Popular Will
I. Voter Participation
A. Factors in Voter Turnout: The United States in Comparative Perspective
1. Registration Requirements
2. Frequency of Elections
3. Party Differences
B. Why Some Americans Vote and Others Do Not
1. Civic Attitudes
2. Age
3. Education and Income
C. The Impact of the Vote
II.
Conventional Forms of Participation Other Than Voting
A. Campaign & Lobbying Activities
B. Virtual Participation
C. Community Activities
III.
Unconventional Activism: Social Movements and Protest Politics
IV.
Participation and the Potential for Influence
Important Terms
1. Political culture
2. Values and beliefs
3. Characteristics of American political culture
4. Political Socialization
5. Agents of political socialization
6. ideology
7. Economic liberals
8. Economic conservatives
9. Cultural (social) liberals
10. Cultural (social) conservatives
11. Libertarians
12. populists
13. Liberal
14. Conservative
15. Moderate
16. Party identification
17. Ideological battlegrounds
18. Types of political participation
19. Suffrage
20. opinion
21. Public opinion
22. Public opinion poll
23. Population
24. Straw poll
25. Sample
26. Sampling error
27. Random sampling
28. George Gallup
29. Tommy Bradley Effect
30. Exit polls
31. Political participation
32. Demographics
33. Gender gap
34. Dilemmas of equality
35. Social (political) movements
36. Political typology
37. Apathy
38. Alienation
39. Civic duty
40. Registration
41. Social capital
42. Voter turnout
43. Voting Rights Act of 1965
(2014-15)