Chapter 7 Public Opinion

According to Almond, the elite might pay to the attentive public because the attentive public tends to ____

represent the view of the society as a whole

Which statement explains why public opinion is an important consideration for both democratic and authoritarian governments?

strong public dissent can lead to an electoral defeat of the collapse of the regime

Which of the following is most likely to result in a pollster recording a non-attitude response for a participant?

asking the participant this opinion on an especially complex issue

Which type of distribution curve is the most dangerous for a democracy?

bimodal

Published surveys tend to be more carefully watched by the public during ____

election years

A pollster can decrease a poll's margin or error by ____

increasing sample size

What does public opinion polling provide that election results cannot?

insight into citizens' views on specific issues

Suppose two surveys are conducted, one asking people's level of support for "welfare" and the other using the term "assistance to the poor". The former survey finds much lower support than the latter. This discrepancy shows that ____

pollsters must be careful to word questions in ways that avoid biased responses

Why might a government go ahead with a policy or action that the majority of citizens oppose?

public opinion does not always reflect what is best for the nation