POS2041 Midterm Study Guide: Chapter 6-9
Privately owned media companies in the United States earn most of their revenue from
advertising
News aggregator
an application or feed that collects web content such as news headlines, blogs, podcasts, online videos, and more in one location for easy viewing
Which of the following stories would an American news outlet that relies primarily on advertising revenue be LEAST likely to cover?
an economics professor providing testimony to a congressional committee on the effect of tariffs
Campaign
an effort by political candidates and their supporters to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters in their quest for political office
Party identification
an individual voter's psychological ties to one party or another
A loose network of like-minded politicians, consultants, activists, and interest groups drawn together by a public policy issue is referred to as
an issue network
Socialism refers to a political ideology that
argues that more government is necessary to promote justice and to reduce economic and social inequality
A push poll involves
asking loaded questions in order to subtly shape the respondent's opinion
Public opinion polls show wide partisan differences on the importance of key issues. Study the following figure that contrasts policy beliefs of those who identify with the Republican party or lean toward it with those who identify with the Democratic party or lean toward it. On which of the following issue are Republicans and Democrats in closest agreement?
jobs
Interest groups with __________ have been shown to have more access to lawmakers
demonstrated technical expertise
The so-called New Deal coalition was severely strained
during the 1960s by conflicts over civil rights and the Vietnam War
Primary elections
elections held to select a party's candidate for the general election
Which of the following best describes the role of factors within the major parties?
factions exist within parties because parties are coalitions of people who represent many diverse interests
Fake news
false stories intended to be read as factual news that are circulated to benefit one candidate or party over another or to generate revenue
which of the following is a way that interest groups use the courts to influence public policy?
filing amicus briefs
A person who enjoys the benefits of a group's collective efforts but does not contribute to those efforts is called a
free rider
The fact that women tend to oppose military intervention more than men do is an example of
gender gap
During the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton received
half the amount of media coverage as Donald Trump
A consequence of the limited public broadcasting available in the United States relative to other Western democracies is the American public
has less political knowledge than people in other Western democracies
Digital citizenship requires
high-speed internet access and the skills to use it
Partisanship
identification with or support of a particular party or cause
The fact that many middle-class and lower-middle-class citizens who did not stand to benefit from President George W. Bush's tax cuts seemed to favor them is an example of the
importance of political knowledge
Which of the following statements about political knowledge is not accurate
in general, citizens with high levels of political knowledge are less likely to belong to political organizations and to be active in politics
"Selective benefits" are
incentives that interest groups make available only to those people who are members of their organizations.
Who are "hidden partisans"?
independents who lean toward one of the major parties
Interest group
individuals who organize to influence the government's programs and policies
Framing is the power the media has to
influence how events, issues, and people's actions are interpreted and understood
The media landscape for news has seen remarkable shifts in a short period of time. Which media sources have gained wider audiences and which have lost some of their audience? Which platform do U.S adults cite as their most frequent source of news?
internet
The media landscape for news has seen remarkable shifts in a short period of time. Which media sources have gained wider audiences and which have lost some of their audience? Which platform do U.S adults cite as their most frequent source of news?
internet
A stable, cooperative relationship between a House or Senate committee or subcommittee, an executive branch program, and one or more well-organized interest groups is called
iron triangle
Lobbying is often easier on which kinds of issues?
issues that the public does not care about
The fact that a decreasing number of companies owns an increasingly large share of the American media is a concern primarily because
it increases the risk that politicians and citizens who express less popular or minority viewpoints will have difficulty finding a public forum
The media landscape for news has seen remarkable shifts in a short period of time. Which media sources have gained wider audiences and which have lost some of their audience? Which statement about news sources is accurate?
more people used the radio for news in 2017 than in 2007
Party activists are ________ likely to contribute time to party affairs and ________ likely to hold more extreme views than the party's rank-and-file voters.
more; more
Citizen journalism
news reported and distributed by citizens, rather than by professional journalists and for-profit news organizations
Which of the following groups is most likely to affiliate with the Republican Party?
older White voters
Between 1812 and 1830, the United States had
one political party: the Jeffersonian Republicans
Which of the following is not a problem that pollsters encounter?
only getting 75 percent response rate
political parties
organized groups that attempt to influence the government by electing their members to important government offices
In general, FCC regulations apply only to
over-the-air broadcast media
Which of the following requires an FCC license in order to legally broadcast in the United States?
over-the-air television stations
Protest
participation that involves assembling crowds to confront a government or other official organization
Third parties
parties that organize to compete against the two major American political parties
Party activists
partisans who contribute time, energy, and effort to support their party and its candidates
Jane is a volunteer for Trump's 2020 campaign, knocking on doors and persuading voters to vote for Trump and other Republican candidates in the election. Her efforts best characterize her as a
party activist
In a __________ electoral system, political parties are awarded legislative seats based on their share of the total vote cast in the election
plurality
Grassroots campaigns
political campaigns that operate at the local level, often using face-to-face communication to generate interest and momentum by citizens
Liberalism and conservatism are examples of
political ideologies
The process by which Americans form political beliefs and values is called
political socialization
501 (c)(4) Committees (dark money)
politically active nonprofits; under federal law, these nonprofits can spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns and not disclose their donors as long as their activities are not coordinated with the candidate campaigns and political activities are not their primary purpose
A familiar polling problem is the "bandwagon effect," which occurs when
polling results influence people to support the candidate identified as the probable victor in a campaign
Which of the following is the best definition of the media?
print and digital forms of communication that include everything from websites, newspapers, television and radio
Media
print and digital forms of communication, including television, newspapers, radio, and the internet, intended to convey information to large audiences
Policy feedback occurs when
public opinion shifts in response to changes in government policy
Simple random sample (or probability sample)
A method used by pollsters to select a representative sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent
Random digit dialing
A polling method in which respondents are selected at random from a list of 10-digit telephone numbers, with every effort made to avoid bias in the construction of the sample
Band wagon effect
A shift in electoral support to the candidate whom public opinion polls report as the front-runner
Which agency regulates broadcast media in the United States?
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Which U.S. president promoted his policy agenda to the American people through "fireside chats"?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Liberty
Freedom from government control
Libertarian
Someone who emphasizes freedom and believes in voluntary association with small government
Socialist
Someone who generally believes in social ownership, strong government, free markets, and reducing economic inequality
Social desirability effect
The effect that results when respondents in a survey report what they expect the interviewer wishes to hear rather than what they believe
Digital divide
The gap in access to the internet among demographic groups based on education, income, age, geographic location, and race/ethnicity
Political socialization
The induction of individuals into the political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based
Which of the following best describes the relationship between social media and political participation?
When social media users see that others in their network have voted or otherwise engaged in political activity, they are often motivated to participate themselves
Which statement about party identification and gender in the United States is most accurate?
Women are significantly more likely than men to identify with the Democratic Party, whereas more men identify as Republicans.
Gatekeeping
a process by which information and news are filtered to the public by the media; for example, a reporter choosing which sources to include in a story
General election
a regularly scheduled election involving most districts in the nation or state, in which voters select officeholders; in the United States, general elections for national office and most state and local offices are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years (every four years for presidential elections)
Delegate
a representative who votes according to the preferences of his or her constituency
The small group that pollsters use to make inferences about the opinions of the whole population is called
a sample
Sample
a small group selected by researchers to represent the most important characteristics of an entire population
Lobbying
a strategy by which organized interests seek to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on government officials
The Jeffersonian Republicans were best known for their support of
a weak national government, with the states retaining most powers.
Public broadcasting outlets that receive partial funding through license fees and government subsidies
account for less than 5 percent of media market share in the United States
Digital political participation
activities designed to influence politics using the internet, including visiting a candidate's website, organizing events online, and signing an online petition
The frequent reporting on the federal investigation by Robert Mueller regarding whether anyone close to Trump participated in Russia's 2016 election interference is an example of the media's commitment to
adversarial journalism
From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the ________ Party was the party of the North, while the ________ Party was the party of the South.
republican; democratic
Public opinion polls
scientific instruments for measuring public opinion
Political parties are different from interest groups in that political parties
seek to control the government by nominating and electing them to office
Which of the following best describes the relationship that the news media have with big technology companies?
technology companies are increasingly developing or buying major news media companies
Despite its widespread availability, ________ typically report(s) on the narrowest range of topics and provide(s) the least depth of news coverage.
television
Broadcast media
television, radio, or other media that transmit audio and/or video content to the public
Imagine that national surveys showed that over a period of 30 years racist attitudes towards African Americans in the United States drastically declined, yet studies showed ample evidence of persistent racism in the states. The disparity between the public opinion polls and the real word is best explained by which of the following?
the social desirability bias
What is a media monopoly?
the concentration of media ownership by a few large corporations
The now-defunct rule that required broadcasters to provide time for opposing views when they aired programs on controversial issues was called
the fairness doctrine
Party organization
the formal structure of a political party, including its leadership, election committees, active members, and paid staff
A distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between women and men is known as
the gender gap
When we say the media have the power of framing, we mean that
the media can affect how people view a topic or form opinions on a topic
When we say the media have the power of agenda setting or filtering, we mean that
the media shape which topics the government must deal with
Same-day registration
the option in some states to register on the day of the election, at the polling place, rather than in advance of the election
Media monopoly
the ownership and control of the media by a few large corporations
turnout
the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote
Agenda setting
the power of the media to bring public attention to particular issues and problems
Framing
the power of the media to influence how events and issues are interpreted
Electoral college
the presidential electors from each state who meet after the general election to cast ballots for president and vice president
Mobilization
the process by which large numbers of people are organized for a political activity
Priming
the process of making some criteria more important than others when evaluating a politician, problem, or issue
A push poll is a poll in which
the questions are designed to shape the respondent's opinion rather than measure the respondent's opinion
Equal time rule
the requirement that broadcasters provide candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages to the public
Suffrage
the right to vote; also called franchise
Which of the following is not an agent of socialization
(the family, social groups, education, party affiliation) all of the above are agents of socialization
Surveys conducted with ____________ people are generally considered sufficient for accurately measuring public opinion
1,000
Which of the following sample sizes is sufficient to have a reasonably accurate poll?
1500
Which group won voting rights most recently?
18-20 year olds
Party identification has changed over time, with the number of Democrats, Republicans, and independents gaining or losing supporters at different periods. During what period did the Democrats have the largest group of supporters?
1976-1982
Party identification has changed over time, with the number of Democrats, Republicans, and independents gaining or losing supporters at different periods. During what period did the Democrats lose the most supporters?
1982-1988
The media landscape for news has seen remarkable shifts in a short period of time. Which media sources have gained wider audiences and which have lost some of their audience? In which year was newspaper readership the highest?
1995
Party identification has changed over time, with the number of Democrats, Republicans, and independents gaining or losing supporters at different periods. In which of the following periods were people most likely to identify as independents?
2012-2019
The media landscape for news has seen remarkable shifts in a short period of time. Which media sources have gained wider audiences and which have lost some of their audience? In what year did more people get their news from radio than from newspapers?
2015
Gender gap
A distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between women and men
Right of rebuttal
A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation giving individuals the right to have the opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on a radio or television broadcast
Political ideology
A cohesive set of beliefs that forms a general philosophy about the role of government
Which of the following statements best characterizes media ownership in the United States?
A small number of giant, privately owned corporations control most of the country's television networks, movie studios, record companies, cable channels, book publishers, magazines, newspapers, and digital media sites
Attitudes (or opinions)
A specific preference on a particular issue
Equality of opportunity
A widely shared American ideal that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential
Which statement best describes citizens' influence over politics and public policy decisions in the United States?
All citizens exert an equal influence over politics and public policy decisions in the United States
Which of the following groups was NOT part of the New Deal coalition?
Asian Americans
Public opinion polls show wide partisan differences on the importance of key issues. Study the following figure that contrasts policy beliefs of those who identify with the Republican party or lean toward it with those who identify with the Democratic party or lean toward it. On which issue is there the largest difference in opinion between Republicans and Democrats?
Black Lives Matter
Which of the following best describes Americans' level of trust in the media today?
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think that information from national news organizations is very trustworthy
Individuals with home high-speed internet access and the skills to use it are called
Digital citizens
Which of the following is a good example of a media monopoly?
Disney
Which of the following best describes the level of ideological bias in the news media overall?
Most sources have been found to be centrist
Sampling error (or margin error)
Polling error that arises based on the small size of the sample
Selection bias
Polling error that arises when the sample is not representatives of the population being studied, which creates errors in over-representing or under-representing some opinion
Agents of socialization
Social institutions, including families and schools, that help to shape individuals' basic political beliefs and values
Which statement best describes the relationship between public opinion and government policy?
The relationship between government policy and public opinion is dynamic, with government policy responding to public opinion but mass opinions also shifting based on new government policies
Liberal
Today this term refers to those who generally support social and political reform, governmental intervention in the economy, more economic equality, expansion of federal social services, and greater concern for consumers and environment
Conservative
Today this term refers to those who generally support the social and economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new political formulae and economic arrangements; conservatives believe that a large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens' freedom
Incumbent
a candidate running for re-election to a position that he or she already holds
Digital citizen
a daily Internet user with (high-speed) home Internet access and the technology and literacy skills to go online for employment, news, politics, entertainment, commerce, and other activities
Adversarial journalism refers to
a form of reporting in which the media adopt a skeptical or even hostile posture toward the government and public officials
Which of the following is a good example of broadcast media outlet?
a local television station
Issue network
a loose network of elected leaders, public officials, activists, and interest groups drawn together by a specific policy issue
Adversarial journalism
a model of reporting in which the journalist's role involves adopting a stance of opposition and a combative style in order to expose perceived wrongdoings
527 Committee (Super PAC)
a nonprofit independent political action committee that may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, and individuals but is not permitted to contribute to or coordinate directly with parties or candidates
Party platform
a party document, written at a national convention, that contains party philosophy, principles, and policy positions
Two-party system
a political system in which only two parties have a realistic opportunity to compete effectively for control
Push poll
a polling technique in which the questions are designed to shape the respondents opinion
Open primary
a primary election in which the voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election
Closed primary
a primary election in which voters can participate in the nomination of candidates but only of the party in which they are enrolled for a period of time prior to primary day
Political Action Committee (PAC)
a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns
Values (or beliefs)
basic principles that shape a person's opinions about political issues and events
The difference between a political value and a political attitude is that values are
basic principles, while attitudes are specific preferences.
Collective goods
benefits, sought by groups, that are broadly available and cannot be denied to nonmembers
Most Americans try to get political information
by using shortcuts, such as taking cues from trusted friends and colleagues
If a national survey finds candidate A leads candidate B by 5% in the upcoming election and the margin of error in the survey is 3%, it means that
candidate A leads candidate B by anywhere between 2 and 8 percentage points
Large cities have predominantly ________ populations, while ________ are more numerous in rural and suburban areas.
democratic; republicans
Penny press
cheap, tabloid-style newspaper produced in the nineteenth century, when mass production of inexpensive newspapers first became possible due to the steam-powered printing press; a penny press newspaper cost one cent compared with other papers, which cost more than five cents
The National Rifle Association, the Sierra Club, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving are all examples of
citizen groups
Public opinions
citizens' attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions, and events
A benefit that is sought by an interest group and that once achieved cannot be denied to nonmembers is called a
collective good
Midterm elections
congressional elections that do not coincide with a presidential election; also called off-year elections
Today, the term ______ refers to someone who believes that a large government poses a threat to the freedom of individual citizens and to free markets and democracy
conservative
During the last decade, the number of newspaper journalists working in the United States has
decreased by 50%
More than three-fourths of daily print newspapers are owned by
large media conglomerates
The vast majority of Americans describe themselves as
liberals, conservatives, or moderates
In classical political theory, a liberal was closest to what we would today refer to as a
libertarian
Which of the following sets of terms best describes America's fundamental political values?
liberty, equality of opportunity, and democracy
The tendency for Black Americans to perceive other Black people as members of a group with a common identity and a shared political interest is called
linked fate
Gifts, discounts, and health insurance are examples of
material benefits
The fact that public support for government policies declines dramatically when calling the policies "welfare" rather than "assistance for the poor" illustrates that
seemingly minor differences in the wording of a question can convey vastly different meanings to survey respondents
In order for a public opinion poll to accurately generalize to the entire population, the survey must
select respondents randomly and everyone in the target population must have an equal chance of being selected
Solidary benefits
selective benefits of group membership that emphasize friendship, networking, and consciousness-raising
Purposive benefits
selective benefits of group membership that emphasize the purpose and accomplishments of the group
A(n) ________ is a method used by pollsters to select a representative sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent.
simple random sample
Public opinion polls show wide partisan differences on the importance of key issues. Study the following figure that contrasts policy beliefs of those who identify with the Republican party or lean toward it with those who identify with the Democratic party or lean toward it. Suppose you were running in a nonpartisan campaign and were trying to appeal to voters from both sides of the political divide. Which issues would you emphasize in your campaign?
social Security, the economy, and heath care costs
Friendship and networking are examples of
solidary benefits
Material benefits
special goods, services, or money provided to members of groups to entice others to join
Informational benefits
special newsletters, periodicals, training programs, conferences, and other information provided to members of groups to entice others to join
Socioeconomic status
status in society based on level of education, income, and occupational prestige
Public opinion polls show wide partisan differences on the importance of key issues. Study the following figure that contrasts policy beliefs of those who identify with the Republican party or lean toward it with those who identify with the Democratic party or lean toward it. Suppose you were running for office as a Republican and you wanted to focus on the issues that matter most to Republicans. Which issues would you emphasize in your campaign?
terrorism, immigration, and the economy
A political party is an organization
that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.
During the early nineteenth century, the main base of strength for the Jeffersonian Republican Party under Andrew Jackson was in
the South
The Federalist Party disappeared, in part, as a result of
the War of 1812
Which of the following is not a reason that many Americans appear to prefer online news?
the accuracy and objectivity compared to traditional media outlets
The term public opinion is used to describe
the attitudes that people have about policy issues, political events, and elected officials
During the 2020 Democratic presidential primary elections, candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden received favorable national coverage showing his lead in the South Carolina polls. Despite losses in the previous four states, Biden went on to become the party's presumptive nominee in weeks. The increased public support for Biden is partly explained by
the bandwagon effect
The free-rider problem occurs because
the benefits of a group's actions are broadly available and cannot be denied to nonmembers
The congressional election system in the United States is called "first past the post" because
the candidate with the most votes wins even if she dd not win a majority of the total
Iron triangle
the stable, cooperative relationship that often develops among a congressional committee, an administrative agency, and one or more supportive interest groups; not all of these relationships are triangular, but the iron triangle is the most typical
Pluralism
the theory that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in the government; the outcome of this competition is compromise and moderation
Which of the following social groups usually vote for Republicans?
the very wealthy
What is policy feedback?
the way in which government policy can work to shift public opinion
What is one of the main differences between people who have gone to college and people who have not?
there is a higher level of political participation among those with a college education
Pollsters use random digit dialing to gather national samples for public-opinion polls because
there is not a complete list of all Americans that can be used to identify the population
The media are sometimes referred to as the "fourth branch of government" because
they provide a check on the power of government and political leaders
Free riders
those who enjoy the benefits of collective goods but did not participate in acquiring or providing them
Which of the following is not a responsibility of Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee?
to select their party's candidates for elective office
Which of the following actions is generally considered to be the most common type of participation in politics?
voting in an election
Social media
web- and mobile-based technologies that are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue among organizations, communities, and individuals; social media technologies take on many different forms, including text, blogs, podcasts, photographs, streaming video, Facebook, and Twitter