Exam 2 - quizzes 5-8 Flashcards
(40 cards)
Farmers who pay attention to farm policy or retired persons and their doctors who keep tabs on Medicare are examples of
a) issue publics
b) opinion leaders
c) thought leaders
d) high demanders
a) issue publics
The patterns of public opinion with regard to torture illustrate that
a) Americans hold clear and well-defined opinions opposing the use of torture.
b) most Americans are well-versed on major issues, and while they consider the cues from party leaders, they generally make up their own minds based on the facts.
c) Americans hold clear and well-defined opinions supporting torture if it would protect the country from a terrorist attack.
d) the opinions most people hold on political issues rely heavily on cues and signals the leaders of their preferred party send on the issues.
d) the opinions most people hold on political issues rely heavily on cues and signals the leaders of their preferred party send on the issues.
The fact that some people in the United States may not have a telephone or only have a cell phone or refuse to participate in polls illustrates what about scientific polling?
a) Pollsters can overcome any problems with the sample to make sure the results are not biased.
b) No poll is completely free of the biases they introduce in drawing the sample.
c) Nothing really because these people constitute a very small part of the population.
d) There is really no such thing as scientific polling and these problems make polls unreliable.
b) No poll is completely free of the biases they introduce in drawing the sample.
Regular elections, broad suffrage, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom to join or form political organizations are significant because
a) they are mechanisms through which the government distracts the public from policy.
b) they ensure that government leaders can simply do their jobs without worrying about public opinion.
c) they mean that government leaders always know precisely what the public’s opinion is.
d) they compel government leaders to take the public’s opinion into account if they want to keep their jobs.
d) they compel government leaders to take the public’s opinion into account if they want to keep their jobs.
The experiences of Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush illustrate
a) that the level of public approval for Republican presidents declines more sharply than for Democratic candidates.
b) that the level of support for Republican presidents is always higher when there is some type of international crisis.
c) that the level of public approval for the President rarely deviates very much.
d) that the level of approval for presidents typically varies from month to month with economic conditions and international events.
d) that the level of approval for presidents typically varies from month to month with economic conditions and international events.
Because the fit between the words and concepts used in polling questions and how people actually think about issues is never perfect, even the most carefully designed question
a) is subject to some measurement error.
b) can result in an essentially fabricated gauge of public opinion.
c) is only right about 47 percent of the time.
d) can fail to provide any accurate information.
a) is subject to some measurement error.
When it comes to the relationship between public opinion and public policy
a) studies find that the more prominent the issue, the less likely public opinion is to be influential.
b) the structure of the American system of government prevents public opinion from systematically affecting public policy.
c) studies have demonstrated that public opinion significantly affected public policy in three-quarters of instances.
d) scholars have found that because elections are so important, any changes in public opinion are automatically reflected in changes in public policy.
c) studies have demonstrated that public opinion significantly affected public policy in three-quarters of instances.
Unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise, Americans interpret political phenomena
a) the way that the media tell them to.
b) in ways that favor their preferred party.
c) without regard for party identity.
d) based mainly on the objective facts.
b) in ways that favor their preferred party.
Which president started the trend of having an in-house pollster taking regular readings of the public pulse?
a) Bill Clinton
b) Dwight D. Eisenhower
c) Harry Truman
d) Jimmy Carter
d) Jimmy Carter
Which of the following was not a reason why the Literary Digest predicted the 1936 presidential election incorrectly?
a) Only a small percentage of the ballots were actually returned and the respondents did not resemble the population.
b) The size of the sample was too big so that the margin of error in the poll was not precise.
c) The ballots were sent out too early and failed to capture any late-breaking trends.
d) The sample was badly biased for an election that divided the electorate strongly along economic lines.
b) The size of the sample was too big so that the margin of error in the poll was not precise.
The franking privilege
a) allows members of Congress free access to the postal system for official correspondence.
b) gives members of Congress free unlimited broadcast time on C-SPAN.
c) refers to the weekly free lunches members of Congress provide reporters.
d) refers to confidential information given to reporters under the condition that they not reveal their sources.
a) allows members of Congress free access to the postal system for official correspondence.
In the presidential election of 1872, both Horace Greeley, the Democratic presidential candidate, and Henry Wilson, running mate for incumbent Republican president Ulysses S. Grant, were
a) newspaper publishers.
b) cousins of William Randolph Hearst.
c) sued by newspapers for making allegations about the lack of journalistic truthfulness.
d) reporters who had covered the Civil War.
a) newspaper publishers.
The costs of transmitting a news product to each consumer is known as
a) unit costs.
b) shot costs.
c) head count costs.
d) delivery costs.
a) unit costs.
What does the example of the Pentagon Papers illustrates about the doctrine of prior restraint?
a) The government can easily make a case that the press should not be allowed to publish national security documents while the nation is at war.
b) The courts have been skeptical of the claims of the press, and the government can operate under a presumption of secrecy.
c) Exercising prior restraint requires the government to demonstrate that the publication of documents would damage national security.
d) The Supreme Court prefers to avoid these issues so the legislative and executive branches can resolve the problems
c) Exercising prior restraint requires the government to demonstrate that the publication of documents would damage national security.
During the early days of the republic, newspapers
a) rarely reported on politics or government at all.
b) advocated party platforms, promoted candidates, and attacked the political opposition.
c) were almost always nonpartisan.
d) were primarily full of objective news reporting.
b) advocated party platforms, promoted candidates, and attacked the political opposition.
How have the courts played a vital role in protecting the media under the First Amendment?
a) By limiting the subsidies provided to news organizations to ensure their independence
b) By ruling that the press is a constitutionally protected fourth branch of the government that may write anything it wishes
c) By requiring politicians to answer questions from the press and expanding the availability of government documents
d) By limiting government efforts to exercise prior restraint and limiting the press’s exposure to libel and slander laws
d) By limiting government efforts to exercise prior restraint and limiting the press’s exposure to libel and slander laws
“Yellow journalism” was a term first used at the end of the nineteenth century that referred to
a) those papers published south of the Mason–Dixon line
b) all of the penny press papers
c) the use of outrageous and inflammatory headlines as well as sensational stories to attract readers to newspapers
d) reliance by journalists on services to provide most of their stories
c) the use of outrageous and inflammatory headlines as well as sensational stories to attract readers to newspapers
Walter Lippman’s view of the press was
a) working closely with politicians to gently lead the public in the right direction on the most important matters of public policy.
b) providing the information a good citizen needed to know to function in a democracy.
c) holding politicians accountable for all of their actions.
engaging in muckraking so that the endemic corruption d) would be exposed and citizens should be cynical of their government.
b) providing the information a good citizen needed to know to function in a democracy.
The Watergate scandal broke and Richard Nixon was forced to resign largely due to which of the following?
a) The House banking scandal
b) The House investigation into impropriety in the savings and loan industry
c) A casual conversation between President Nixon and Henry Kissinger, which was overheard by a reporter at a state dinner .
d) The Senate investigation spurred by the “leaks” of “Deep Throat.”
d) The Senate investigation spurred by the “leaks” of “Deep Throat.”
In March 2011, Senator Rand Paul responded to President Barack Obama’s nationally televised address on military action in Libya by
a) posting his own video on YouTube.
b) writing an op-ed for the New York Times.
c) a televised rebuttal.
d) speaking from the Senate in a televised speech.
a) posting his own video on YouTube.
Which of the following statements about spending in House elections is true?
a) House incumbents have such an advantage that no matter how much money challengers raise it is not enough.
b) The only route to success for challengers is raising and spending more money than incumbents.
c) The more challengers spend, the more likely they are to win, but few spend enough to be competitive.
d) The more money incumbents spend, the greater their chances of winning reelection.
c) The more challengers spend, the more likely they are to win, but few spend enough to be competitive.
Elections allow ordinary citizens to, in aggregate,
a) reward or punish elected officials for their performance in office.
b) express how they feel about government although elected officials do not take the voters’ views into account when they make policy choices.
c) essentially support the status quo.
d) avoid working for the duration of election day.
a) reward or punish elected officials for their performance in office.
The effect of the Supreme Court decision in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) was that
a) reporting requirements and contribution limits were constitutional, but limits on spending violated the free speech protections of the First Amendment.
b) limits on aggregate contributions from individuals was unconstitutional.
c) Congress did not have the authority to establish campaign finance laws because elections were regulated by the states.
d) corporations were entitled to the same free speech protections in the First Amendment as individuals.
a) reporting requirements and contribution limits were constitutional, but limits on spending violated the free speech protections of the First Amendment.
What have scholars discovered about voting based on a number of different field experiments?
a) Telephone calls stressing the importance of voting increased turnout the most.
b) Television advertising about the closeness of the election had the greatest effect on turnout.
c) Personal visits combined with a message about the closeness of the election increased turnout the most.
d) Americans have become so apathetic that there is very little that can be done to increase voter turnout above 50 percent.
c) Personal visits combined with a message about the closeness of the election increased turnout the most.
