Chapter 5: Public Opinion

Which of the following questions has the most neutral phrasing?

"Do you favor government efforts to reduce smoking?"

Which of the following is a problem that pollsters have when conducting telephone surveys?

Americans are inundated by telephone surveys and often refuse to participate.

Which of the following accurately describes American attitudes toward patriotism and optimism about the direction of the country?

Americans express pride in their country but dissatisfaction with its practical ability to accomplish important objectives.

Why does the timing of an election poll matter?

If the poll is conducted too far away from the election, the results may not be accurate.

Which is true of a high-quality scientific survey?

It consists of systematic interviews conducted by trained professionals.

__________ is the term coined to describe cases where a citizen lacks a meaningful position on a policy.

Nonattitudes

Which of the following defines the term political ideology?

Political ideology is a coherent system of interlocking attitudes and beliefs about politics.

Which of the following is an example of how popular culture can affect the process of political socialization?

Recurring themes of corrupt politicians may undermine trust in government.

Which of the following statements about the meaning of the rational public is true?

The attitudes of the American public as a whole appear to be rational.

When the variability of individual public opinion is taken and averaged out, what can be said about overall public opinion over time?

The general stability and consistency of opinions indicates a rational public.

In general, which of the following statements about Hispanic Americans is accurate?

They tend to be more conservative than other Americans on the issue of abortion.

What do pollsters who use probability sampling do to identify representative samples of the public?

They try to ensure that each individual has an equal chance of being surveyed.

Pollsters try to interview samples of Americans in a way that ensures that each American has the same probability of being interviewed. Which of the following best describes their ability to achieve this?

This goal cannot be perfectly met in practice.

Which of the following statements about the gender gap is true?

Women identify as Democrats and support Democratic candidates more than men do.

__________ are less likely to identify with a political party than other groups in the United States.

Younger citizens

The Applying the Framework pyramid in this chapter notes that one reason gun control legislation is rarely enacted is that __________.

although most Americans support gun control measures, they do not see these measures as a high priority

Americans' levels of trust in government __________.

are lower than they have been in decades

Close-ended questions __________.

ask respondents to choose their response from a predefined list of options

What is public opinion?

attitudes expressed by ordinary people on various political topics

Why is public opinion central to the idea of democracy?

because democracy is fundamentally about the rule of the people

Public support for the Vietnam War __________.

changed in response to information about how the war effort was going

How has the level of trust that Americans have in government changed since the 1960s?

declined substantially

Which of the following is a priority of economic conservatives?

economic liberty and freedom from government interference

At least until recently, in the United States, social class __________.

has usually not played a central role in political conflicts

Over the past several decades Americans' attitudes about government spending __________.

have been mostly stable but have changed sensibly in response to major world events

Greater education levels are strongly associated with __________.

higher rates of participation in politics

If you were reading an article in Time magazine about public opinion on the president's proposal to eliminate the estate tax, you should be attentive to __________.

how the question was phrased

How do the economic policy preferences of African Americans compare with those of other races?

more liberal than those of other races

The process by which citizens acquire core beliefs and values is known as __________.

political socialization

In a true democracy, there must be a close match between __________, government policies, and actions, at least in the long run.

public opinion

Long-term trends show that regional differences in many core beliefs and political attitudes are __________.

shrinking

An example of taking a liberal stance on an issue would be __________.

supporting government-provided health care

A pool of young people reaches voting age when an extremely popular Republican president is in office. Most of this group ends up identifying with the Republican Party. Which political socialization effect is at work in this example?

the generational effect

At what point in a person's life does political socialization occur?

throughout one's lifetime

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that authorized the early stages of the Vietnam War __________.

was passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. Senate