AP US gov Unit 4

• Americans share common traditions, customs, beliefs and values that provide some common ground
• Americans disagree with each other on many things
• Rule of law


  The idea that no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be above the law
• The basic fairness of everybody being equal before the law is something that almost everybody believes in
• The ideal of rule of law is not always achieved in practice
• Limited government


  The Constitution established a limited government that would only have the power to do some things, not everything
• There are huge disagreements over how much power the Constitution delegated to the federal government and how much it reserved to the states and to the people
• Core values


  • Individualism
  • Equality of opportunity
  • Free enterprise
• Individualism


  The philosophy that each person is responsible for themselves, has the freedom to make their own decisions, and has to live with the consequences
• The way people interpret individualism varies, with some seeing it as complete self-reliance and others arguing it still includes shared responsibility
• Equality of opportunity


  The belief that everybody should have an equal chance to compete and succeed, but not necessarily equality of result
• There is debate over what exactly is included in the notion of equal opportunity, with some arguing for making sure everybody has the same opportunities and others thinking it requires government action to help some people
• Free enterprise


  The freedom for people to choose what to buy and sell, and what career to pursue
• There is debate over how free markets should be, how much regulation is needed, and whether government action can improve economic outcomes or make them worse
• By and large, people want similar things - to be free, to be safe, and to be able to take care of themselves
• Disagreement is more often about the means than the ends
• People these days are super skeptical of opinion polls especially if they don't like the results
• This unit is called American political ideologies and beliefs
• The primary method for political scientists to measure people's beliefs is through scientifically valid polls
• Random sample


  Everybody in the population must have an equal chance of being selected
• Stratified sample


  The population is divided into subgroups and weighted based on the demographics of the population
• A sample size of a thousand people is considered scientifically valid and a sampling error of plus or minus 3% is generally acceptable
• Sampling error


  The results may be the result of chance variation, meaning that if you did everything the exact same way again the results might be slightly different
• Wording of poll questions

  • Must be neutral, clear and unbiased
  • Any effort to push respondents towards a specific response makes the poll invalid
  • If people don't understand the question the results aren't valid
• Framing of poll questions


  • The surrounding questions on the survey can prime respondents to answer in a certain way
• Types of scientific polls

  • Opinion polls
  • Tracking polls
  • Benchmark polls
  • Exit polls
• Opinion polls


  Used to measure opinion on some issue
• Tracking polls


  Continuous polls used to chart changes in opinion over time
• Benchmark polls


  Conducted by a candidate before they've officially announced their candidacy to gather information about their standing with the public
• Exit polls


  Done in person interviewing people as they exit the polling place on Election Day to gain insight into voting behavior and help predict election outcomes
• Focus groups are used by campaigns to gather detailed insights about a candidate or issue, but they are not scientifically valid
• Polling methods have changed significantly since 2016, with pollsters now using more diverse contact methods beyond just live phone polling
• Reliability


  Ensures consistent, repeatable results if the poll was properly done
• Veracity


  The accuracy of the data, such as accurately predicting election outcomes
• Political ideology


  A consistent set of ideas and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government, what the government should or should not be doing, and how much power it should have
• Big three political ideologies for AP Government

  • Conservatives
  • Liberals
  • Libertarians
• Political socialization


  The process through which individuals acquire their political beliefs
• Factors that influence political socialization

  • Parents and family
  • Peers and schools
  • Religious organizations
  • Media
  • Social media
• US political culture


  The widely shared core values, democratic ideals, and principles about the relationship between citizens and the government
• Americans generally think that democracy is a good thing and support the ability of citizens to influence governmental policies and want the government to be responsive to the people