Public Opinion

Question 1

What is public opinion?

Answer 1

is a collection of individual opinions about a matter of general interest

Question 2

People learn and develop opinions about government and politics through the process of

Answer 2

political socialization

Question 3

Agents of political socialization

Answer 3

1. Parents
2. Educational System
3. Peer Group
4. Mass Media

Question 4

Education for all children was the ability to use schools to promote public opinions

Answer 4

1. US Culture and values
2. Patriotic Rituals
3. National Holidays
4. Operations in government

Question 5

Commitment to stability by positively depicting government and the status quo is often fostered by

Answer 5

Text Books

Question 6

People tend to be more politically tolerant and more likely to participate in government are

Answer 6

More educated

Question 7

College students are more open and tolerant than the population as a whole because

Answer 7

College provides students with self confidence and independence to think for themselves

Question 8

Peers tend to be influential in the socialization process

Answer 8

on issues of special relevance to youth

Question 9

Are the effects on opinion from the era in which one lives

Answer 9

Generational effect

Question 10

Measure public opinion by asking people to answer questions in a survey or poll

Answer 10

pollsters

Question 11

Polls are the best measure of public opinion, by they are not perfect. Two problems:

Answer 11

1. many create public sentiment rather than measuring it
2. may not capture what the public is interested in but what the poll sponsors think is most important

Question 12

Suppression Polls

Answer 12

polls that are designed to undermine enthusiasm amongst followers and drive away financial donors

Question 13

Straw polls

Answer 13

no way to ensure the sample of individuals giving opinions is representative of the larger population

Question 14

Random sampling provides pollsters with a methodology to measure opinions of large populations based on

Answer 14

smaller sample

Question 15

first president to hire a pollster in the white house

Answer 15

JFK

Question 16

Extended the use of polling to new levels

Answer 16

Bill Clinton

Question 17

A way of packing policies that caters to a specific base while appearing to remain mainstream

Answer 17

Crafted Talk

Question 18

Focus Groups

Answer 18

a group of dozens or so average men and women brought together by political consultants and pollsters to share their feelings and reaction to candidates and policies

Question 19

Type of poll that is conducted to determine if certain information can sway voters away from one candidate to another

Answer 19

Push Poll

Question 20

A smaller number of people are polled on successive evenings throughout a campaign to assess changes in the level of voter support

Answer 20

Tracking Polls

Question 21

Election day polls of voters leaving the polling places, conducted mainly by TV Networks and major newspaper

Answer 21

Exit Polls

Question 22

Other types of polling

Answer 22

1. telephone polling
2. internet polling

Question 23

ideology

Answer 23

a highly organized and coherent set of opinions

Question 24

idea that government can be a positive and constructive force in society, endorses government action to bring about a better life for citizens

Answer 24

• liberalism

Question 25

individuals and communities better off without government assistance

Answer 25

- conservatism - small government

Question 26

Conservatives appose government interference yet they favor government restrictions on sexual behavior and its consequences

Answer 26

- abortion - availability on contraceptives - gays and lesbians right to marry

Question 27

are the swing group

Answer 27

moderates