Biases
What are the four types of biases discussed in lecture?
Confirmation
Implicit
Availability Heuristic
Representativeness Heuristic
What is the definition of political culture?
A shared framework of values, beliefs, and habits of behavior in regard to government and politics.
What is the measure of empirical relationships (the relationship or non-relationship between observable characteristics of two different objects of investigation)?
Correlation
Politics is concerned with the authoritative allocation of values in a society. Who's definition is this and what does it leave out?
Easton
Leaves out the mention of groups
Define Capitalism and Socialism
Socialism - government owns the basic goods and services provided to members of the society
Capitalism - individuals own the basic goods and services provided to members of the society, and do with them as they please
Susan considers herself a strong conservative and constantly watches news channels that reinforce her views. She loves politics, but she only pays attention to the information that matches hers and ignores information from sources that go against her views. Even when she is presented with facts that contradict her opinions, she downplays it as not important or flat out says it is biased leading to potential deepening political polarization. What kind of bias is this?
Confirmation Bias
What are the three types of political culture according to Daniel Elazar?
Individualistic
Moralistic
Traditionalistic
What is the theoretical explanation as to how or why a pattern exists in an empirical relationship and has two prerequisites? What are the two prerequisites?
Causation
Prerequisites
1. Correlation (sufficient for empirical relationship)
2. Mechanism (including directionality and time sequencing)
Political endeavor seeks to bring about a maximum degree of change in the opposing group with a minimum of change in ones group. Who's definition is this and what is missing from it?
Deutsch
The mention of conflict
What are the common assumptions for being liberal?
Highly valuing social freedom and economic equality
Government should not restrict social choices but should intervene to promote general welfare and regulate the economy
Value private property and market but to an extent
Overall good of society weighs more than individuals
Jerry is a voter and he is deciding who to vote for in the upcoming election. There are two candidates on the ballot, Jason and Joaquin. Jerry unconsciously favored Jason as his candidate because his name is more "mainstream." In Jerry's eyes Jason was more electable, competent, and trustworthy because of his name, even though Jason and Joaquin have the same qualifications. What kind of bias is this?
Implicit Bias
Eric lives in a state where there is very little government involvement. Here, material self-interest is a key motivator of citizens. Most politicians run for politics to self-advance and participate in corrupted politics. There is a great partisan divide where each side doesn't like the other and people are either for a side or against it. Politicians don't run for office to fix issues and only run for power and wealth. The governments role is limited and there is a "team-based" attitudes. What classification of Daniel Elazar's Causal Theory of Political Culture is this an example of?
Individualistic
What is it called when there is an empirical relationship that makes it seem like a causal relationship, but in reality the relationship is random?
Spurious
What is reliability in the field of natural and social science?
the consistency of results from repeatable measures
What are the common assumptions about being conservative?
Highly valuing social order and economic efficiency
Expecting government to regulate social choices not economic ones
Viewing economic inequality is a natural consequence of differences in human ability and energy
Recent violent crime has been covered in the media recently, thus leading to the belief crime rates are skyrocketing, even if overall statistics show a long-term decline in crime rates. As a result of this, politicians might prioritize crime policy in an elections and support candidates who advocates for harsher penalties, even if data doesn't support these actions. What kind of bias is this?
Availability Heuristic
Thomas lives in a state where the governments job is to serve the elite. Politicians in this society have a familial obligation to serve in politics and ordinary people are not expected to vote at all. Politics in this state is a competition between rival factions within the elite rather than ideological-based parties. It is important in this state to maintain the existing social order and the economic hierarch. There are mixed feelings about the common good and marketplace. What classification of Daniel Elazar's Casual Theory about Political Culture is this?
Traditionalistic
A political scientist is conducting research examining the relationship between higher levels of education and the likelihood of an individual to vote. While examining his results he remembers the minimum "r" threshold for two variables to be empirically related, + or - 3. He found that higher education levels led to an individual voting for progressive candidates and lower education led individuals to vote for conservative candidates. What category does this possible empirical relationship fall under?
Correlation
What is validity in the field of natural and social sciences?
Acceptability of measures as pertinent to the question being asked
What are the arguments for and against socialism?
For - labor and profit in the society must retain intrinsic value - humans must not be a "throw-away" commodity in pursuit of a stronger bottom line
Against - when everything is divided equally (including treatment) there is no incentive for individuals to produce (free rider problem)
A new politician has started making waves in recent politics. This candidate is young and what some would call progressive-looking with his green hair, tattoos, and piercings. Katie sees this candidate and assumes that they advocate for liberal politics. This candidates campaign is, in reality, more conservative. What kind of bias is this?
Representative Heuristic
Karen lives in a state where the government is viewed as a positive force of good. She has grown up understanding that it is a citizens duty to serve in politics as well as vote. She loves that her state politics focus on the issues at hand and that all of the politicians run for office to fix these issues. There is no toleration of corruption because government service is a public service. There is major emphasis on the common wealth, emphasizing the good of the many, not the few. According to Daniel Elazar's Causal Theory about Political Culture, what classification is this?
Moralistic
A political scientist is examining research conducted in the 2016 election. He noticed there is a relationship between states that have strict voter ID laws have impacted voter turnout among different demographics. This demographic was specifically lower income individuals, elderly citizens, and minority groups. He recognized that having to provide specific forms of identification makes it hard for these eligible groups to cast their ballot. What kind of relationship is this.
Causal
What are the three dimensions of politics? Define each one.
Fact v. Belief, Winning v. Losing, Today v. Tomorrow
- Fact - statements that can be objectively verified as true or false without the interference of beliefs or opinions
- Belief - interpretations or feelings about fact (things we consider to be true about politics)
- Winning - achieving power, influence or policy success within a political system
- Losing - loss of power, influence, and the inability to reach political goals
- Today - current balance of power, influence, emerging trends, and public opinions that shape government decision making
- Tomorrow - the anticipation, planning, impacts, and power influence of future political developments
What are the arguments for and against capitalism?
For - maximizes economic growth and promotes freedom of individual wealth (directly connects benefit with effort)
Against - Leaves less intellectually and socially privileged individuals without means to improve quality of life (leads to selfish behavior and widens gap between "haves" and "have nots")