POLS 101 Quiz #8

What did the framers identify as the greatest source of political conflict for the United States?

differences between the rich and poor

Libertarianism is a political ideology that

emphasizes freedom and voluntary association with small government.

"Affective intelligence" refers to the

fact that individuals will often quickly form opinions in response to current events by using their emotions as a guide.

The fact that liberals choose to live in neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states that are more liberal while conservatives move to areas with populations with more conservative views is called

geographic sorting.

Support for freedom of speech, a free internet, and the press is

higher in the United States than in most other countries in the world.

California shifted from a Republican stronghold in the 1970s to a solidly Democratic state today primarily due to

immigration and demographic change.

According to John Zaller's model of opinion formation, the "sample" stage occurs when a(n)

individual selects the most relevant or most recently acquired and accepted information from his or her "bucket" of information in response to a survey question.

The ________ model states that individuals keep a running tally of information and use that tally to form their opinions.

online processing

The Lincoln-Douglas debates took place

outside, in the cornfields and town squares of Illinois.

A person's political party preference is primarily acquired through the influence of the

person's family.

Liberalism and conservatism are examples of

political ideologies.

The process by which political values are formed is known as

political socialization.

George W. Bush called himself a "compassionate conservative" in order to show that he favored

programs that assist the poor and needy.

"Policy feedback" occurs when

public opinion shifts in response to changes in government policy.

Which U.S. president promoted his policy agenda to the American people through "fireside chats"?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

________ generally support abortion rights and oppose state involvement with religious institutions.

Liberals

________ is the core political value MOST highly prioritized by American conservatives.

Liberty

During the 2000 South Carolina Republican primary, George W. Bush supporters telephoned conservative white voters to ask if they would be more or less likely to vote for John McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child. This was an example of a

push poll.

The three steps of John Zaller's model of opinion formation are

receive, accept, and sample.

The percentage of Americans without any religious affiliation has

risen from 5 percent of the population in the 1990s to more than 25 percent today.

By the time of the Iraq invasion in March 2003, the American public was

strongly supportive of the war, with 70 percent of Americans endorsing the Bush administration's policy.

What is the "social desirability effect"?

the fact that respondents report what they think the interviewer wishes to hear or whatever they think is socially acceptable rather than what they actually believe

The practice of push polling involves

the procedure of asking loaded questions in order to subtly shape the respondent's opinion.

The fact that Americans today are likely to follow the news by briefly reading multiple headlines online rather than by reading longer news articles is referred to as

"skimming and scanning."

The typical margin of error in a sample survey of 1,500 respondents is ________ percent.

2.5

Which of the following statements about contemporary public opinion is MOST accurate?

Digital citizenship offers the promise of a more informed electorate.

________ is the most important core value of liberalism.

Equality

Which of the following statements best describes current controversies about immigration among conservatives?

There is a division of opinion among conservatives, with pro-business conservatives accepting immigration and social conservatives strongly opposing immigration to the United States.

A political ideology is best defined as

a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government.

If a person supports a candidate because he or she is the front-runner in a poll, it is an example of the

bandwagon effect.

The difference between a political value and a political attitude is that values are

basic principles, while attitudes are specific preferences.

The term public opinion is used to describe

beliefs and attitudes toward different issues, events, and people.

According to the online processing model, members of the public may appear to be politically uninformed because

by the time they actually voice an opinion on an issue, they are likely to have forgotten much of the information that helped them arrive at their opinion.

"Retail politics" refers to

campaigns in which candidates meet citizens face-to-face to discuss politics.

The transition many white southerners made from the Democratic to the Republican Party in the 1960s is a good example of the

changes in political conditions and circumstances in the South, rather than in opinions or values.

Individuals who attend church frequently are more likely to be ________ in their political views than people who are not religious.

conservative

Opposition to legalized abortion is a position MOST likely supported by ________, while support for legalized abortion is a position MOST likely supported by ________.

conservatives; liberals

Using the aggregate preferences and viewing habits of millions of Netflix subscribers to make predictions about how someone will feel about political issues is an example of

data mining.

In recent years, response rates for random digit dial surveys have been

declining steadily and now average less than 15 percent.

Bernie Sanders is best described as a ________, while Rand Paul is best described as a ________.

democratic socialist; libertarian

If a national survey finds candidate A leads candidate B by 5 percent in the upcoming election and the margin of error in the survey is 3 percent, it means candidate A

leads candidate B by anywhere between 2 and 8 percentage points.

A 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 fact that Americans strongly support minimal governmental interference with individuals' lives and property illustrates their commitment to

liberty.

The tendency for black Americans to perceive other blacks as members of a group with a common identity and a shared political interest is called

linked fate.

In order for a survey to accurately generalize the entire population, the survey must

select respondents randomly, and everyone in the target population must have an equal chance of being selected.

In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ________ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.

selection bias

The fact that survey respondents overreport voting in elections and the frequency of their church attendance is an example of the ________ effect.

social desirability

One explanation for why Trump performed better at the ballot box than in the public opinion polls is that

some people may have been reluctant to tell an interviewer that they supported Trump given that he was so controversial.

Which of the following is an example of the "gender gap"?

that men are more supportive of Donald Trump's presidency than women

In 2002, Congress passed which of the following laws related to the invasion of Iraq?

the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq

The concept of a marketplace of ideas refers to

the competition between varying opinions and ideas that are aired in public forums.

Pollsters use random digit dialing to gather national samples for surveys because

there is not a complete list of all Americans that can be used to identify the population.

Political leaders may prefer communicating through social media because

they can directly transmit unedited messages to their followers without having the content altered by the mainstream press.

More affluent and educated citizens wield an outsized influence over policy makers because

they vote at higher rates, and they are more likely to contribute money to political campaigns.