The American Political Landscape
Cross-Cutting Cleavages – Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.
Demographics – The study of the characteristics of populations.
Ethnicity – A social division based on national origin, religion, language, and often race.
Ethnocentrism – Belief in the superiority of one’s nation or ethnic group.
Fundamentalists – Conservative Christians who (as a group) have become more active in politics in the last two decades and were especially influential in the 2000 presidential election.
Gender Gap – The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – The total output of all economic activity in the nation, including goods and services.
John Q. Public - Colloquial term for average citizens and what they want or believe.
Manifest Destiny – A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.
Middle America - A phrase coined by Joseph Kraft in a 1968 newspaper column to refer to Americans who have moved out of poverty but are not yet affluent and who cherish traditional middle-class values.
Norm - A standard of right or proper conduct that helps determine the rage of acceptable social behavior and policy options.
Political Elite - An identifiable group of persons who poses a disproportional share of some valued resource, such as money or political power.
Political Predisposition – A characteristic of individuals that is predictive of political behavior.
Political Socialization – The process by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Poll - A survey of public opinion
Populists - People who hold liberal views on economic matters and conservative ones on social matters. The prefer a strong government that will reduce economic inequality, regulate businesses, and impose stricter social and criminal sanctions
Race - A grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance.
Random Sample - A sample selected in such a way that any member of the population being surveyed has an equal chance of being interviewed.
Reinforcing Cleavages – Divisions within society that reinforce one another, making groups more homogenous or similar.
Religious Tradition - The moral teachings of religious institutions on religious, social, and economic issues.
Sampling Error - The difference between the results of two surveys or samples.
Silent Majority - A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counter culture of the 1960's.
Social Status - A measure of one's social standing obtained by combining factors such as education, income, and occupation.
Socioeconomic Status (SES) – A division of population based on occupation, income, and education.