Public Opinion
This measures public opinion by asking a sample of the population the same questions.
What is a survey?
The results of these elections decide which candidate will represent its political party in the general election.
What are primary (or caucus) elections?
This is the government agency responsible for the regulation of American broadcast media.
What is the Federal Communications Commission?
An example of this is when southern Democrats switched their support to the Republican Party.
What is realignment?
What is the collective action problem?
This polling technique requires that each individual in a population has an equal probability of being selected for a public opinion poll.
What is random sampling?
In these primaries, voters do not need to be registered with the party in order to participate.
What are open primaries?
This occurs when regular people publish photos and write stories about news events.
What is citizen journalism?
An example of this phenomenon is that members of congress increasingly vote along party lines.
What is polarization?
The idea that groups of people with shared interests are able to come together to positively influence government.
What is pluralism?
This measures public opinion by using a group of respondents demographically similar to the population of interest.
What is a representative sample?
This is set by the total of each state's number of congressional representatives and two senate seats.
What is the state Electoral College vote?
This FCC rule requires that broadcast media provides the same amount of time for political candidates to appear on non-news programming.
What is the Equal Time Provision?
This model includes party-in-the-electorate, party-as-organization, and party-in-government.
What is the tripartite view of parties?
A group filing an amicus brief on a Supreme Court case is an example of this type of interest group strategy.
What is inside game?
This occurs when survey respondents tell pollsters what they think is the appropriate response rather than their true answer.
What is social desirability bias?
The ruling in this Supreme Court case led to deregulation of corporate spending in campaign finance.
What is Citizens United?
A now repealed policy that required holders of broadcast licenses to cover controversial issues in a balanced manner.
What is the Fairness Doctrine?
Examples include plurality voting, ballot access requirements (by state), # of signatures required to get on ballots, 5% minimum for federal funding (not reimbursed until after election).
What is obstacles for minor parties?
Examples include lawmakers that will consider introducing or sponsoring favorable legislation, members of relevant committees, and members of the conference committees.
What are targets of interest groups?
Examples include question wording/framing effects, response instability, cell phones, non-response bias, social desirability bias.
What is polling difficulties?
This act required states to allow citizens to register to vote when they sign up for driver’s licenses and Social Security benefits.
What is the National Voter Registration Act of 1993?
The idea that information is placed in a citizen’s brain and accepted.
What is the Hypodermic Model?
According to this, electoral systems with single-member districts and plurality voting will result in two competitive parties.
What is Duverger's Law?
Mobilizing public opinion on a policy issue is an example of this type of interest group strategy.
What is outside game?