APUSG Review

Political Culture- The attitudes, beliefs, and values which underpin the operation of a particular political system. Views are often not seen equally between all citizens.

 The American Political Culture is based on Democratic values like liberty, equality, individualism, democracy, justice, the rule of law, nationalism, optimism, and idealism. 

Sources that Political Culture come from include:

• Constitution- Divides authority between two parties, government, and the citizens
• Religion- With no national religion in the US, views relating to religion vary and cause public opinion to vary as well.
• Family- The political party and views one family member holds can be adopted by another. Family traits are often passed onto children in relation to who they will vote for. 

Factors that affect public opinion include:

•  Religion/Location- South tends to be Republican while the north tends to be mainly Democratic
• Race & Ethnicity- Blacks tend to be Democratic, while whites are more commonly Republicans. Latinos are associated with Democrats, and Asians tend to be Republicans. 
• Social Class- Blue Collar Workers tend to be Republicans, while affluent white-collar workers tend to be Republican

 The most common way to judge public opinion on an issue to in the forms of polls. Often, these polls are conducted by research groups or national news media, such as CNN or Time. These surveys commonly judge how many Americans oppose or favor an idea or topic. Yet polls can sometimes have a degree of inaccuracy or corruption. The adverage person is usually represented in the polls by "John Q. Public"