Question 1

What is individualism?

Accepted Answer

The belief that individuals should be left to make decisions by themselves

Question 2

What is equality of opportunity?

Accepted Answer

The belief that all people should have the same opportunity in life to achieve

(not to be confused with equality of outcome)

Question 3

What is free enterprise?

Accepted Answer

The belief that private businesses should be free of state control and be able to compete with each other

Question 4

What is rule of law?

Accepted Answer

The philosophy that all citizens and institutions are subject to the same laws

Question 5

What is limited government?

Accepted Answer

The belief that the government is limited by the will of the people and the law

Question 6

What are core political values?

Accepted Answer

Values that fundamentally structure American politics and that most citizens (regardless of other views) tend to agree on

(individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, limited government)

Question 7

What political culture?

Accepted Answer

The set of basic values and beliefs that give order and meaning to a political process; provide underlying assumptions and rules in the political system

(e.g., most people believe in the importance of freedom, regardless of other views)

Question 8

What is political socialization?

Accepted Answer

The process of individuals learning and internalizing their political views

(influenced by family, schools, social groups, media, etc.)

Question 9

What is selective exposure?

Accepted Answer

Watching media one agrees with and avoiding what one disagrees with

(leads to polarization; affects political socialization)

Question 10

How do remarkable events influence political views?

(generational effects)

Accepted Answer

When a generation goes through a remarkable event, it can influence the entire generation’s political views

(e.g., 9/11 causing many to support a more active government)

Question 11

What are lifecycle effects?

Accepted Answer

The tendency of people to change their political opinions over their lifetime

(people tend to become more conservative as they get older; compare with generational effects)

Question 12

What is public opinion?

Accepted Answer

The views of the general public

(shaped by political culture and political socialization)

Question 13

What is an opinion poll?

Accepted Answer

A series of questions (poll) designed to measure public opinion

(measures a representative sample of the population)

Question 14

What is a benchmark poll?

Accepted Answer

The first poll taken in a campaign

Takes a benchmark of support for a candidate/policy

Question 15

What is a tracking poll?

Accepted Answer

A poll that tracks public opinion on a topic by obtaining responses over time (e.g., daily)

Question 16

What are entrance and exit polls?

Accepted Answer

Polls taken immediately before and after voters have entered polling stations

Question 17

What are straw polls?

Accepted Answer

Unofficial ballots to test public opinion

(usually unscientific because they don’t take a representative sample of the general population)

Question 18

What is margin of error?

Accepted Answer

The degree of error in results from a random survey/poll

Surveys with more participants have a lower margin of error

(higher = less reliable results; lower = more reliable results)

Question 19

How can polls decrease the margin of error?

Accepted Answer

Increase the number of people they poll

Question 20

What is saliency?

Accepted Answer

How important an issue is to a particular individual or group

Question 21

What is an ideology?

Accepted Answer

A consistent system of ideas and ideals

Leads to economic and political theories and policies

Question 22

What is liberalism?

Accepted Answer

The ideology that the government should interfere with the market to ensure justice and equal opportunity for all

Supports social welfare and open social freedoms (e.g., right to gay marriage)

(contrast with conservatism)

Question 23

What is conservatism?

Accepted Answer

An ideology that favors limited government intervention in the markets and more localized governments

Supports following social tradition (e.g., marriage between a man and woman); against social welfare

(contrast with liberalism)

Question 24

What is libertarianism?

Accepted Answer

An ideology that supports extremely limited government and promotes a free market, laissez-faire economy

Also supports open social freedoms

(contrast with liberalism and conservatism)

Question 25

What is fiscal policy?

Accepted Answer

Policies regarding how the government manages the economy through taxes, borrowing, and spending money

(Democrats usually support increased taxes; Republicans usually support decreased taxes)

Question 26

What is monetary policy?

Accepted Answer

How the government influences the economy through money supply and interest rates

(increase discount rate, raise reserve requirements, lower interest rate, etc.)

Question 27

What is laissez-faire?

Accepted Answer

A policy of a lack of interference by the government in the free market

Question 28

What is Keynesian economics?

Accepted Answer

A theory that government spending should increase during a recession to stimulate growth and stabilize the economy

Question 29

What is minimum wage?

Accepted Answer

The lowest wage that a worker can be paid

(Democrats tend to support increasing the minimum wage)

Question 30

What is supply-side economics?

Accepted Answer

The theory that lowering taxes, decreasing regulation, and allowing free trade will stimulate economic growth

(Reagan was famous for this)

Question 31

How do Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians contrast in social policy?

Accepted Answer

Democrats support interference in welfare programs (e.g., Social Security and Medicaid) but advocate for a high degree of social freedom

Republicans oppose welfare programs, but advocate for less social freedom (e.g., opposing gay marriage)

Libertarians believe that the government should not interfere in social issues

Unit 4: Political Ideologies and Beliefs, AP U.S. Government and Politics Flashcards