GVPT 170 Fall 2011 Professor Patrick Wohlfarth Final Exam Review Sheet The following is a list of questions and concepts based on the lecture material to help organize your preparation for the final exam The test format will include 60 multiple choice and 40 short answer essay questions Please be aware of two things 1 Neither the list of questions or concepts is exhaustive of all you should know But you will be prepared if you know all the concepts and can thoroughly answer each question 2 This study guide is intended to organize material only from the lectures There will be questions based on the assigned reading especially the Tides of Consent book what is the format of the exam the same as the midterms multiple choice and essay Public Opinion What is public opinion or public attitudes opinions held by citizens How do citizens form political attitudes that represent their ideological beliefs their education the media their peers campaigns How politically informed is the public not very What are the necessary requirements of a scientific public opinion poll Describe the properties of a reliable scientific sample must have ramdomness account for sample error have adequate question wording that does not prompt responders to think a certain way good response rate and measurement of intensity representative sample size About 1200 1500 respondents every person selected from the population should have an equal probablility of being selected What is the process of issue evolution sure issue evolution is how issues become structured along a party driven left right dimension Also issues are initially cross cutting then there s a critical moment that defines the direction the issue will go in its importance in relations to how important the public believes the issue to be Main Concepts Straw poll exclusion self selection party identification ideology randomness macro vs micro public opinion 1 Straw Poll i e the Iowa Straw Poll volunteer voting during a caucus Extremely unreliable because of no randomness exclusion during a survey online telephone etc a respondent decides not to give input resulting in less reliable data when too many people with hold opinions and only the opinions of those who decide to give theirs is taken into account self selection deciding to participate in a survey rather than being randomly chosen Makes data unreliable because more than likely only those who have passionate views about a topic will take part in the survey i e internet polls like ESPN or the text polls on the O Reilly Factor or the Ed Show on MSNBC Party Identification how one labels themselves politically The best indicator of how an individual will vote ideology a comprehensive intergrated set of views about government and politics from the book randomness equal chance of all selected people from a population to have been chosen macro vs micro public opinion the aggregate opinion of an entire population and the individual s set of beliefs respectively 2 3 4 5 6 7 Voting How does voter turnout in the United States compare with other industrialized countries What are some likely sources of the differences 1 It is significantly lower than other nations because of factors like in the US there are more frequent elections of various levels of government as well as there being no penalty for not participating Describe the calculus of voting When does a rational person decide to vote P B C and a rational person votes when P B C 0 meaning the benefits of voting outweigh the costs P The likelihood of the voter s vote making a significant difference B the voter s preferance for one candidate over another C transactions cost of voting Because P is alwayes extremely close to 0 this means that more than likely the transaction cost will outweight the product of P and B Thus making it irrational to vote What are the individual characteristics institutional factors and campaign specific factors that affect voter turnout individual characteristics education age income institutional factors date time place voting will occur registration campaign specific factors closeness of the race negative campaigning level of office being contested What are other common ways beyond voting in which the public may participate in the political process Active Participation contributing money attending rallies and events working for a candidate party getting involved with social movements i e Occupy Wall street Tea Party involvement in civic organizations Idk if this means like special interest groups or something participation through donating fundraising attending a rally volunteering to work for a campaign What factors affect individual vote choice religion PID career income gender sex race ethnicity ideology socialization if parents voted than that person is more likely to vote Main Concepts Turnout total number of people who participated in an election rational voting people will vote if they derive personal satisfaction from going to the polls Expressing themselves through voting outweighs the typically modest cost of casting a ballot winner take all civic duty responsibility of the citizen to socialization a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms values behavior and social skills appropriate to his or her social position Campaigns What is the general purpose of campaigns from the perspectives of both candidates and voters The Candidates communicate with the public why they should vote for them and learn about the voters and the voters learn about the candidates What shapes campaign strategy and what do campaigns accomplish in general Personal views and reputations why vote for you advantage over opposition current events primaries vs general elections Campaigns define election choices what issues are salient the choice between candidates electoral mobilization Describe the differences between campaigns for national versus local offices Campaigns are more important in local elections bc there is less information and knowledge of candidates They also involve more face to face involvement ex local rallies and door to door contact main goal is to gain more name recognition especially in local elections otherwise party labels dominate Know the basic features of presidential approval and how this might influence campaigns and elections more generally If approval 50 the incumbent is in good shape to win reelection 50 means the election will be more competitve Approval shifts