POLI SCI Chapter 7

Mahatma Gandhi's movement in India illustrated that __________.

a government responds to public opinion when its image is threatened

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

A well-constructed public opinion poll __________.

poses the simplest questions possible

Polls designed to influence respondents' opinions are known as __________ polls.

push

Elections rarely show __________.

how voters feel about specific issues

What does public opinion polling provide that election results cannot?

insight into citizens' views on specific issues

Gun control opponents tend to be __________ than the rest of the population.

more intense about the issue

According to Almond, the elite might play to the attentive public because the attentive public tends to __________.

pass on views that mobilize the general public

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.

One challenge of __________ approach is that many Americans tend to identify as middle class, even if they are too poor or too rich to qualify.

a subjective

Which pair of independent and dependent variables cannot reasonably be reversed?

race (independent) and annual income (dependent)

All public opinion polls pose questions to a group of randomly selected individuals without considering their age, gender, or location.

False

Even in the long-term, most presidents who shrug off public opinion remain vilified.

False

Only leaders in democratic nations are vulnerable to changes in public opinion.

False

The relationship between education and social class is weak.

False

What can be concluded from the fact that such a large proportion of the American public identifies as conservative?

Many people have an ideological identification that goes against their position on the issues.

Which of the following lends support to the political generations theory of public opinion?

Many people who lived through the Great Depression are life-long supporters of welfare programs.

France bans the publication of polls close to election day.

True

Which statement explains how Nate Silver was able to predict an Obama win in 2012 more confidently than many pollsters?

He polled a more representative sample of voters than other pollsters did.

In the United States, some affluent suburbs are quite liberal, while poorer country dwellers are conservative. What does this suggest about Karl Marx's theories on class consciousness?

His prediction regarding the salience of social class does not apply to the United States.

What is the most significant way in which television coverage turned public opinion in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1965?

Images of police brutality toward African Americans sparked widespread outrage.

Which statement explains why the life cycle theory does not always hold true?

Major events during young adulthood can affect people's political views for a long time.

Which of these statements about the role of race and ethnicity in politics is the most accurate?

Politics based on ethnicity have the potential to be fluid and change over time.

Which of the following is a plausible explanation for the polls' prediction that Dewey would defeat Truman in 1948?

Pollsters had assumed that respondents who said they were undecided would wind up voting in the same ratio as those who had already decided.

Suppose you are an advisor to a U.S. president whose approval ratings are sagging. What advice could you give to the president to help boost public approval?

Schedule a meeting with prominent foreign leaders to discuss a foreign policy crisis.

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 or the collapse of the regime.

How do published exit polls affect the outcome of presidential elections in the United States?

They have not been shown to have any impact.

American presidents tend to experience high public opinion ratings during their honeymoon period and after rally events such as the Iran hostage crisis.

True

Beginning with the work of Karl Marx, scholars have treated social class as an important factor in public opinion.

True

The government bank bailouts in response to the 2008 financial crisis illustrate the gap between elites and mass public opinion.

True

The labels "conservative" and "liberal" have different meanings for different groups of voters.

True

Wallonia in Belgium and Basque country in Spain are examples of center-periphery tensions.

True

After interviewing a citizen about his support for the new health care bill, a newspaper concludes that there is widespread support for the new legislation in town. This is an example of

anecdotal evidence

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

asking the participant his opinion on an especially complex issue

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

bimodal

In the United States, a liberal would likely support __________, while a conservative would likely support __________.

increasing the minimum wage; banning same-sex marriage

The opinion of the general public tends to have little impact on government decision making because __________.

indifference and fragmentation make it difficult to discern what the public truly thinks

The fact that most Americans turned against the Iraq War after learning that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction (WMD) illustrates __________.

the limitations on government's ability to create the public opinion it desires

The results of a poll can be skewed by __________.

the way questions are worded

A person's dedication to her organic vegetable garden would not be considered part of public opinion but her __________ would be.

views on food industry