UNIt 2 vocabularyUNIt 2 vocabularyMr. VasquezMr. Vasquez

AP U.S. Government and PoliticsAP U.S. Government and Politics

PUBLIC OPINIONPUBLIC OPINION

•DefinitionDefinition: The distribution of : The distribution of the population’s beliefs about the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues.politics and policy issues.

DEMOGRAPHYDEMOGRAPHY

•DefinitionDefinition: The science of : The science of population changes.population changes.

CensusCensus

•DefinitionDefinition: A valuable tool for : A valuable tool for understanding demographic understanding demographic changes. The Constitution requires changes. The Constitution requires that the government conduct an that the government conduct an “actual enumeration” of the “actual enumeration” of the population every 10 years.population every 10 years.

Melting potMelting pot

•DefinitionDefinition: The mixing of : The mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation. has changed the American nation. The United States, with its history, The United States, with its history, of immigration, has often been of immigration, has often been called a melting pot.called a melting pot.

Minority majorityMinority majority

•DefinitionDefinition: The emergence of : The emergence of a non-Caucasian majority, as a non-Caucasian majority, as compared with a White, compared with a White, generally Anglo-Saxon generally Anglo-Saxon majority. majority.

Political culturePolitical culture•DefinitionDefinition: An overall set of : An overall set of

values widely shared within a values widely shared within a society.society.

reapportionmentreapportionment

•DefinitionDefinition: The process of : The process of reallocating seats in the House reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the years on the basis of the results of the census.results of the census.

Political socializationPolitical socialization

•DefinitionDefinition: According to : According to Richard Dawson, “the process Richard Dawson, “the process through which an individual through which an individual acquires his [or her] acquires his [or her] knowledge, feelings, and knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his [or evaluations regarding his [or her] political worlds.”her] political worlds.”

SAMPLESAMPLE

•DefinitionDefinition: A relatively small : A relatively small proportion of people who are proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole.representative of the whole.

Exit pollExit poll

•DefinitionDefinition: Public opinion : Public opinion surveys used by major media surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and winners with speed and precision. precision.

Political ideologyPolitical ideology

•DefinitionDefinition: A coherent set of : A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and events, personalities, and policies.policies.

Political participationPolitical participation

•DefinitionDefinition: All the activities : All the activities used by citizens to influence used by citizens to influence the selection of political the selection of political leaders or the policies they leaders or the policies they pursue.pursue.

protestprotest

•DefinitionDefinition: A form of political : A form of political participation designed to participation designed to achieve policy change through achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional dramatic and unconventional tactics.tactics.

Civil disobedienceCivil disobedience

•DefinitionDefinition: A form of political : A form of political participation that reflects a participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral law believed to be immoral and to suffer the and to suffer the consequences.consequences.

Sampling errorSampling error

•DefinitionDefinition: The level of : The level of confidence in the findings of a confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the confident one can be of the results.results.