| public opinion | The distritbution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues. |
| demography | The science of population changes. |
| census | A valuable tool for understanding demographic changes. The Constitution requires that the government conduct an "actual enumeration" of the population every 10 years. |
| melting pot | The mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation. The United States, with its history of immigration, has often been called a melting pot. |
| minority majority | The emergence of a non-Caucasian majority, as compared with a white, generally Anglo-Saxon majority. It is predicted that by about 2060, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans together will outnumber white Americans. |
| political culture | An overall set of values widely shared within a society. |
| reapportionment | The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census. |
| political socialization | According to Richard Dawson, "the process through which an individual acquires his or her particular political orientations-his or her knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his or her political world." |
| sample | A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole. |
| random sampling | The key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers, which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample. |
| sampling error | The level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more people interviewed, the more confident one can be of the results. |
| random digit dialing | A technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey. |
| exit polls | Public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision. |
| political ideology | A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies. |
| liberals | group that favors change and allows for the expansion of government |