Middle America--A phrase coined by the late Joeseph Kraft in a 1968 newspaper column to refer to Americans who have moved out of povery but are not yet affluent and who cherish traditional middle-class values.

Silent Majority--A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960s.

Social Status--aka socio-economic status--A measure of one's social standing obtained by combining factors such as education, income, and occupation.

Religious Tradition--The moral teachings of religious institutions on religious, social and economic issues.

Poll--A survey of public opinion.

Gender Gap--Differences in the political views and voting behavior of men and women.

Random Sample--A sample selected in such a way that any member of the population being surveyed (e.g., all adults or voters) has an equal chande of being interviewed.

Sampling Error--The difference between the results of two surveys or samples. For example, if one random sample shows that 60% of all Americans like cats and another random sample taken at the same time shows that 65% do, the sampling error is 5%.

Liberal--In general, a person who favors a more active federal government for regulating business, supporting social welfare, and protecting minority rights, but who prefers less regulation of private social conduct.

Conservative--In general, a person who favors more liimited and local government, less government regulation of markets, more social conformity to traditional norms and values, and tougher policies toward criminals.

Political Ideology--A more or less consistent set of views as to the policies government ought to pursue.

Libertarians--People who wish to maximize personal liberty on both economic and social issues. They prefer a small weak government that has little control over either the economy or the personal lives of citizens.

Populists--People who hold liberal views on economic matters and conservative ones on social matters. They prefer a strong govermnet that eill reduce economic inequality, regulate businesses, and impose stricter social and criminal sanctions. The name and views of have their origins in an agriculturally-based social movement and party of the 1880s and 1890s that sought to curb the power of influential economic interests.

Political Elite--An identifiable group of persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resourc--such as money or political power.

Norm--A standard of right or proper conduct that helps determine the range of acceptable social behavior and policy options.

Activists--Individuals, usually outside of government, who actively promotes a political party , philosophy, or issue he or she cares about.

White primary--The practice of keeping blacks from voting in primary elections (at the time, the only meaningful election in the one-party South was the Democratic primary) through arbitrary implementation of registration requirements and intimidation. Such practices were declared unconstitutional in 1944.

Motor-voter bill--A bill passed by Congress in 1993 to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. The law, which goes into effect in 1995, requires states to allow voter registration by mail, when one applies for a driver's license, and at state offices that serve the disabled or poor.

Registered voters--People who are registered to vote. While almost all adult American citizens are theoretically eligible to vote, only those who have completed a registration form by the required date may do so.

Literacy Test--A requirement that citizens pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. It was established by many states to prevent former slaves (most of whom were illiterate) from voting. Illiterate whites were allowed to vote by a "grandfather clause" added to the law saying that you cold vote, even though you did not meet the legal requirements, if you or your ancestors voted before 1867.

Poll Tax--A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote. It was adopted by many states in order to vote to prevent former slaves (most of whom were poor) from voting. It is now unconstitutional.

Grandfather Clause--A clause added to registration laws allowing people who did not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867 (before blacks were legally allowed to vote). This was to exempt poor and illiterate whites from registration requirements established to keep former slaves from voting. The Supreme Court declared the practice unconstitutional 1915.