Reference no: EM131643717
Intro to American Government
Chapter 5: Public Opinion
Key Concepts:
Understand and discuss the concept of public opinion.
What factors influence public opinion?
Know how political values are shaped.
How does group identity influence a person's political opinions?
Discuss how the public influences the government and why the government would/should listen to public opinion.
How is public opinion measured? When can polls be trusted?
Discuss the concept of sampling. What is random sampling?
Vocabulary:
Public Opinion
Primacy Principle
Gender Gap
Straw Poll
Party Identification
Political Ideology
Random sampling
Sample
Honeymoon Period
Margin of error
Political socialization
Rally-Around-the-
Flag effect
Chapter 6: The Media
Key Concepts:
Explain the relationship between the media, the public, and the government
Identify the role that media plays in informing the public about politics and government
Compare and contrast the different types of media and how they affect public opinion and knowledge
Discuss trends in media viewer and readership
Discuss the business model of the media and how it affects what is consumed by the public
Discuss the different mechanisms and laws that regulate the media
Know how the media in the U.S. differs from the media in other countries
Compare and contrast the concepts of agenda setting, priming and framing (and give examples of each)
Know the concepts of Yellow Journalism and Muckraking, and know the difference between them
Know how Watergate affected the way the media covers issues
Bias is more than just ideological, what are the other biases in the media?
How does persuasion occur?
Vocabulary:
Television Media
Radio Media
Print Media
New Media
Infotainment
FCC
Market-Driven
Journalism
Muckraking
Yellow Journalism
Agenda Setting
Priming
Framing
Persuasion
Chapter 7: Voting and Political Participation
Key Concepts:
Define political participation and give examples of different kinds. Which kinds of participation are most common and why?
Identify why political participation matter and identify the key role that individuals play in the government
When are people most likely to vote or participate in politics? Why?
Be able to identify other factors that affect the likelihood of voting and for whom someone will vote.
What trends do we observe concerning voter turnout?
How does the U.S.'s voter turnout compare to that of other industrialized nations?
Vocabulary:
Conventional
Participation
Unconventional
Participation
Prospective Voting
Retrospective
Voting
Socioeconomic
Status
Balancing the ticket
Social capital
Franchise
Sociotropic Voting
Chapter 8: Political Parties
Key Concepts:
Identify and define what a political party is and how they influence government.
What three components make up a political party? Explain each one.
Which parties are dominant in the United States? What are the origins of our current parties? How and why have parties in the United States changed over time? (Be specific about each realignment.)
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a two party system (chart in your book)
Know how and why third parties function in political systems such as the one we have in the United States.
What is polarization? Has it been increasing or decreasing in recent years according to your textbook?
How has party identification changed since the 1950s among voters?
What are critical elections?
Know the differences between a referendum, an initiative, and a recall.
Know how parties are organized. Are they centralized or decentralized?
How did the founding fathers feel about political parties? What does the Constitution say about them?
What is an issue public? What role do issue publics play in the creation of party coalitions?
Key Terms:
Open Primary
Closed Primary
Political Parties
Party Platform
Party organization
Duverger's Law
Political machine
Initiative
Referendum
Recall