public opinion - ANSWERSthe collected attitudes of citizens on a given issue or question
Answerwhy is public opinion important? - ANSWERSIn a democracy, there must be a link between what the public thinks and what the government does -- the nature of this link can vary greatly
Answerwho is mo...
Kenny POLI 2051 exam 2 Questions &
Answers
public opinion - ANSWERSthe collected attitudes of citizens on a given issue or
question
Answerwhy is public opinion important? - ANSWERSIn a democracy, there must be a
link between what the public thinks and what the government does -- the nature of this
link can vary greatly
Answerwho is most interested in public opinion? - ANSWERSelected officials: public
opinion may influence government decision making
academics: seek to understand why people behave the way that they do
the people: may be motivated to become active in politics
AnswerIs the public capable of governing? How would you know? - ANSWERSSurveys
show that people:
○ Are not very interested in politics
○ Are ignorant of much that goes on politically
○ Rely heavily on cues/shortcuts rather than informed issue positions
■ Endorsements, political polls, trusted individuals
Answerpolitical socialization - ANSWERSa complex process through which individuals
become aware of politics , learn political facts, and form political values. (develop a
party attachment, nature vs. nurture)
Answerwe learn these things and they occur throughout our lives (socialization) -
ANSWERSgenerational effects, life cycle effects, period effects
Answergenerational effects - ANSWERSspecific age group uniquely affected by set of
historical events (ex. vietnam and great depression)
Answerlife cycle effects - ANSWERSpolitical views are influenced by maturation (ex.
young people are less politically engaged)
Answeragents of socialization - ANSWERSfamily, community and peers, school, mass
media
Answerfamily - ANSWERS*strongest influence on individuals
-you learn partisan identification from your parents
-you can't ask people directly what their party is, but you can ask them what party their
parents are (strongest predictor)
Answercommunity and peers - ANSWERShave a powerful influence, even into
adulthood
- the idea of peer pressure -- we live in certain neighborhoods, churches, groups
Answerschool - ANSWERSteaches you importance of voting, civic education, being a
good citizen, patriotism, authority figures; teaches you respect for existing social orders
- doesn't always teach you the same things family does
Answermass media - ANSWERScan have an influence due to opinions that are found in
pop culture/ music
Answerour behavior may be based on our _______. - ANSWERSbiology
Answerhow do we know what public opinion is? - ANSWERSwe have to guess, but now
we do polls
Answerthe statistical theory of sampling - ANSWERSa sample of individuals selected by
chance from any population is representative of that population
Answerwhat determines the accuracy of a poll? - ANSWERSthe way the sample is
selected, the size of the sample, the way the survey is put together
Answerquestion wording - ANSWERS○ Survey responses on "welfare" vs. "assisting
the poor"
○ Leading questions → respondents are led to select on a particular position; other
responses are set-up to seem undesirable or wrong
○ Social desirability
○ Question clarity
○ Double-barreled question
○ Question require knowledge the person doesn't have
Answerquestion ordering - ANSWERSsurvey responses on question about whether
reporters should be able to report the news from other countries as they see fit
Answerpush polls - ANSWERSnot actually polls; poses as a survey designed to implant
negative information about an opponent in voters' minds
, Answerexit polls - ANSWERSis taken immediately after voters have exited the polling
stations; conduct exit polls to gain an early indication as to how the election will turn out
Answerlikely voters - ANSWERSthe group of individuals estimated who are most likely
to vote; age eligible voter only show for about 50%
Answerbandwagon affect - ANSWERSyou watch a poll, see the results, and the leading
opinion guides your decision
Answerunderdog affect - ANSWERSyou vote for someone who doesn't seem like they'll
win
Answerpolls affect candidates and politicians - ANSWERSif the public opinion is
strongly for or against an issue, it causes the candidate/ politician to think/ act differently
Answerpolls affect media coverage - ANSWERSmedia tends to cover politics as a
"sporting event" -- who is winning, who is coming close, etc.
Answerpolls affect election results - ANSWERSin close elections, more people vote
AnswerCLASS SURVEY: what did it show? - ANSWERS● Students identify themselves
as more Republican and Conservative than Democrat and Liberal
● Students identify their parents as more extreme than themselves in terms of party
identification, particularly on the conservative end of the scale
● Political Socialization: student party identification is correlated with parent party
identification; women are more strongly correlated with their mothers and men with their
fathers
● Question wording matters → more people agree that government spends too little on
"assistance to the poor" than for "people on welfare"
● Question ordering matters → more people agree that reporters from countries hostile
to the US should be able to report the news from the US as they see fit if that question
is asked after the question about US reporters being allowed into hostile countries
● We see issues through a partisan lens, particularly salient issues like dealing with
terrorist threats and North Korea, building the wall, the Russia investigation, approval of
political leaders, and on general questions such as whether the country is headed in the
right direction or not
Answerpolitical ideology - ANSWERSdefines as a general belief about the role and
purpose of government
Answerliberal - ANSWERSadapt to change, concerned for groups, big government
Answerconservative - ANSWERSnot as susceptible to change, concerned for
individuals, small government
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