Deck 5: Shaping Americans: Political Socialization, Public Opinion, and the Media

Question 1

Which of the following is not an agent of socialization?

A) Parents
B) School
C) Work
D) Charitable contributions

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is political socialization?

A) Patterns of political thought and behavior that are widely held in a society
B) The tendency in recent decades for American political culture to become more accepting of socialist ideas
C) The process by which American government has become more and more involved in nearly all aspects of American life
D) The process by which the central tenets of the political culture are transmitted from those immersed in it to those, such as children and immigrants, who are not

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following was a transformative event that had a socialization effect on the politics of the generation that lived through it?

A) The Cubs winning the World Series
B) The Great Depression
C) The Beatles arrival in America
D) The designated hitter rule

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In the Unites States today, the Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is __________throughout the country.

A) legal
B) under a moratorium
C) prohibited
D) ineffective

Question 5

Which one of the following pairs of countries does not apply the death penalty in criminal cases?

A) United States and Saudi Arabia
B) China and North Korea
C) France and Germany
D) Iran and Afghanistan

Question 6

In the case of Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Supreme Court struck down ___ .

A) state anti-pornography laws
B) flag burning
C) the death penalty
D) state support of religious institutions

Question 7

In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court reinstate the death penalty?

A) Miller v. California
B) Furman v. Georgia
C) Gregg v. Georgia
D) Lemon v. Kurtzman

Question 8

Which of the following new technologies allow like-minded people to find each other and share enthusiasms, ideas, and plans?

A) Newspapers
B) Facebook
C) Television
D) Radio

Question 9

Everyone agrees that the first and most important agent of political socialization is the ___ .

A) family
B) school
C) work
D) membership groups

Question 10

Studies show that about __________percent of married couples share the same party affiliation or are both independents.

A) 50
B) 60
C) 70
D) 80

Question 11

Although parents rarely sit young children down and tell them which political party is preferable, children learn just as effectively by ___ .

A) overhearing their parents
B) observing their parents' actions and reactions
C) sensing their parents' party affiliation
D) All of the above

Question 12

If both parents share the same party affiliation, Democrat or Republican, __________percent of young people adopt the family partisanship.

A) 60 to 65
B) 65 to 70
C) 70 to 75
D) 75 to 80

Question 13

Which of the following statements is not true regarding the relationship between employment and politics?

A) Unemployment takes away the status, time, opportunity, and confidence that political participation requires.
B) Higher income people are more aware of politics, issues, and candidates than are lower income people.
C) Employment, quite apart from the nature of the job, has no effect on a person's political outlook.
D) Having a job is one's ticket to participate in a whole range of social and political processes.

Question 14

What percentage of Americans over the age of 16 receive a daily-newspaper?

A) about 20 percent
B) about 40 percent
C) about 60 percent
D) about 80 percent

Question 15

Donald Trump's use of Twitter as a political communication and messaging device has demonstrated all but which of the following ___ .

A) openness
B) immediacy
C) spontaneity
D) dependability

Question 16

Which one of the following statements is not true regarding journalists, newspapers, and American voters?

A) Newspapers have traditionally endorsed candidates for office and have usually favored Republicans.
B) American citizens identify themselves as liberals in higher proportions than do journalists in general.
C) Editors, publishers, and owners of the media tend to be more conservative than Americans in general.
D) Journalists tend to vote for Democratic candidates for president in much higher proportions than do Americans in general.

Question 17

Major news organizations are or are part of large, bureaucratic, for-profit corporations that secure financial support by ___ .

A) submitting grant proposals to government agencies
B) applying for grants from non-profit organizations
C) selling space or time to advertisers
D) conducting telethons to raise voluntary contributions from viewers

Question 18

The charge of "fake news" ___ .

A) has overtaken traditional arguments about media bias
B) can take several forms
C) includes false stories circulated to discredit individuals or even for monetary gain
D) All of the above

Question 19

During their free time, most people turn their attention to all but which one of the following activities ___

A) politics
B) sports
C) entertainment
D) leisure

Question 20

The "persuasion effect" of the media refers to ___ .

A) what the public learns from what it sees discussed
B) the extent to which the amount of coverage of an issue affects the public's attention to and interest in that issue
C) the way an issue is framed or presented to suggest where the praise or blame should be laid
D) the way the media can sometimes change the substance of what people think about an issue

Question 21

Which of these statements most accurately defines thematic framing?

A) Thematic framing dictates the manner in which media coverage of an issue can affect the public's interest in that issue.
B) Thematic framing places political issues and events in some general context that places responsibility on society and government.
C) Thematic framing presents an issue in a manner that emphasizes individual events in isolation instead of how they relate and connect to other issues and broader forces.
D) Thematic framing directs more attention to the frame than to the picture itself

Question 22

The __________have generally been more effective in framing the national political debate on salient political issues.

A) Republicans
B) Democrats
C) Progressives
D) Independents

Question 23

Probability sampling is based on a statistical model in which every person in the target population has __________chance of being selected for the sample to be polled.

A) an unequal or unknown
B) An excellent chance
C) an equal or known
D) A slim chance

Question 24

A 3 percent sampling error indicates that in a sample of 1,000 the results could be off as much as 3 percent ___ .

A) To high
B) To low
C) either way
D) None of the above

Question 25

A well-constructed national sample of just __________persons produces poll results that have a sampling error of +/- 3 percent with a confidence interval of 95 percent.

A) 100
B) 500
C) 1000
D) 1500

Question 26

Which one of the following statements is not true regarding participation in politics?

A) The more integrated a person is into the community and society, the more likely he or she is to be politically active.
B) Wealthy professionals tend to be engaged in lots of ways, and not just voting.
C) Those for whom life is more difficult tend to be more active politically.
D) Well educated citizens tend to be engaged in politics more than those who are less educated.

Question 27

Which one of the following statements is not true regarding what social science studies tell us about how citizens differ with regard to attitudes toward politics?

A) Schools serving children of the working class and poor are less involved in preparing future leaders.
B) Early differences in knowledge and confidence do not translate into differences in political participation later in life.
C) Poor adults were only about half as likely as the wealthy to say that they paid attention to public affairs most of the time.
D) The poor believe, rightly in many cases, that society and government do not move to their commands.

Question 28

The "linked-fate" hypothesis refers to assertion that ___ .

A) Hispanic Americans oppose businesses that hire undocumented immigrants at minimum wage because it reduces their own wages
B) whites support increase in defense and corporate subsidies more than blacks because a reduction in spending will impact white salaries negatively
C) blacks stand uniformly against racial discrimination because each individual knows that if it occurs he or she will be impacted by it
D) women currently in the workforce reject comparable worth legislation because it will undermine achievements in reaching near parity between men and women

Question 29

Which one of the following statements is not true with regard to ethnic voting behavior?

A) Asians vote about 2 to 1 Republican.
B) Vietnamese tend to lean Republican.
C) Hispanics vote about 2 to 1 Democrat.
D) Chinese, Filipino, Indians, Japanese, and Koreans tend to lean Democratic.

Question 30

Women have consistently been more supportive than men with regard to ___ .

A) gun control
B) spending on education and health care
C) stern punishments for drunk driving
D) All of the above

Question 31

Sometimes, when the public loses confidence in the political elites the door is open to __________to run an "us against them" campaign on behalf of the people against the interests.

A) a religious figure, like Pat Robertson
B) an establishment figure, like Mitt Romney
C) an insurgent, like Donald Trump
D) an experienced figure like Joe Biden

Question 32

Which one of the following statements is true with regard to the puzzling relationship between general principles and specific cases?

A) Findings confirm narrow respect for the nation's general principles, and deep uncertainty about how they should apply in specific cases.
B) Findings confirm broad respect for the nation's general principles, but deep uncertainty about how they should apply in specific cases.
C) Findings confirm narrow respect for the nation's general principles, but reasonable certainty about how they should apply in specific cases.
D) Findings confirm broad respect for the nation's general principles, and reasonable certainty about how they should apply in specific cases.

Question 33

The Gallup organization has been asking Americans whether they would be willing to vote for a woman for president since 1937. The percentage saying yes has risen from 33 percent to __________percent by 2015.

A) 62
B) 72
C) 82
D) 92

Question 34

All but which one of the following statements reflects American ambivalence with regard to abortion?

A) About 55 percent of Americans believe that human life begins at conception, but only about 20 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases.
B) About 30 percent of Americans think abortion should always be legal, 50 percent think it should sometimes be legal, and about 20 percent say it should always be illegal.
C) Almost 85 percent of Americans want abortion to be available when a woman's life is in danger, and yet 88 percent of Americans want doctors to inform women of alternatives to abortion.
D) Since abortion was legalized a half century ago, fewer and fewer people seem concerned about it.

Question 35

In late-2001, 54 percent of Americans agreed that they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right. Since then, this trust has ___ .

A) declined
B) stayed the same
C) increased
D) fluctuated

Question 36

Recent social survey data suggests that ___ .

A) a majority of Americans are "symbolically" conservative and "operationally" conservative
B) a majority of Americans are "symbolically" liberal but "operationally" conservative
C) a majority of Americans are "symbolically" conservative but "operationally" liberal
D) a majority of Americans are "symbolically" liberal and "operationally" liberal

Question 37

Libertarians usually want government to ___ .

A) be active in supporting individual opportunity and advancement
B) provide access to education and health care
C) provide job training and unemployment compensation
D) limit its activities to defense and public safety

Question 38

Political socialization is a __________process because, it reproduces in new citizens the __________political ideas of the culture.

A) dominant
B) conservative
C) liberal
D) progressive

Question 39

The three major commercial networks __________while the new media, with the partial exception of cable news, ___ .

A) do little original reporting
B) have found little use for cable holdings
C) focus their attention on the major events of the day
D) have embraced commercial networks

Question 40

The two general ways in which television news reports frame an issue are __________and ___ .

A) periodic
B) episodic
C) thematic
D) symptomatic

Question 41

The agents of socialization work within a general American political culture that revolves around __________and ___ .

A) capitalism
B) liberty
C) justice
D) democracy

Question 42

A "turnout model" is an educated guess about the __________who will actually ___ .

A) percentage of supporters of a candidate
B) turnout to vote
C) contribute to the candidate's campaign fundraising
D) racial, ethnic, and other characteristics of those

Question 43

Which two of the following statements is true regarding what recent social science studies tell us about how blacks and whites differ with regard to certain political attitudes?

A) Seventy percent of blacks said they could imagine a situation in which they could approve police striking an adult male but only 42 percent of whites agreed.
B) Eighty-one percent of blacks felt that society had not dealt fairly with their racial group but only 15 percent of whites agreed.
C) Twenty-eight percent of blacks felt that there still was a fair amount of discrimination against blacks but only 55 percent of whites agreed.
D) Seventy-six percent of blacks thought that government should spend more to improve conditions among blacks but only 27 percent of whites agreed.

Question 44

Hispanic public opinion is often said to reflect attitudes in-between those of blacks and whites with regard to __________and ___ .

A) bigger government
B) defense spending
C) gun control
D) civil rights protections

Question 45

Which two of the following statements are true between men and women with regard to the 9/11 attacks and military spending?

A) Just prior to the attacks, 41 percent of men, but only 24 percent of women, favored additional defense spending.
B) In the immediate wake of the attacks, support for increased defense spending among men increased to 53 percent, but among women it remained the same.
C) A year and a half after the attacks, as war with Iraq loomed in late February 2003, women were about 10 percent less willing than men to consider the potential costs in troops and treasure acceptable.
D) Ten years later, as most troops were being withdrawn from Iraq while the Afghan War ground on, men and women were nearly equal in their support of the war, 28 percent to 26 percent.

Question 46

In the United States, the ideological spectrum is bound by a political culture that highlights __________and ___ .

A) liberty
B) democracy
C) capitalism
D) justice

Question 47

In 2012, 33 percent of Americans identified themselves as __________and 21 percent identified themselves as ___ .

A) populist
B) liberal
C) moderate
D) conservative

Question 48

A populist generally favors ___ , while a conservative generally favors ___ .

A) small government and the use of market incentives instead of government programs
B) affirmative action to assure equal opportunity
C) government involvement in the economy to assure growth and opportunity
D) large government but with the use of market incentives instead of government programs

Question 49

A liberal generally favors ___ , while a libertarian generally favors ___ .

A) small government and the use of market incentives instead of government programs
B) government involvement in economic activity to assure equal opportunity
C) government involvement in the economy to assure growth and opportunity
D) minimal government in the economy but government spending for defense and public safety

Question 50

Libertarians often agree with conservatives that ___ , but with liberals that ___ .

A) government should foster religion, morality, the family, and law
B) government should be small and inexpensive
C) women should be able to choose abortions and gays should be able to choose their marriage partners
D) government should be involved in the economy to assure growth and opportunity

Question 51

The Council of Europe, established in the immediate wake of World War II, opposed by charter the death penalty.

Question 52

The Holocaust, state-sanctioned killing of millions of innocents during World War II, done by and to Europeans, created a revulsion that was directly felt in the United States as it was in Europe.

Question 53

In recent years, the Supreme Court has prohibited execution of the mentally challenged (IQ under 70) and the young (under 18).

Question 54

Colonial Americans were unable to draw on their European cultural and intellectual heritage to create communities that would then develop and evolve in their interaction with the vast and wealthy continent itself.

Question 55

High school and college-age young people generally adopt their parents' partisan identification.

Question 56

The first and most important agent of political socialization is the family because parents sit young children down and tell them that they are Democrats and not Republicans, or vice versa.

Question 57

Schools, like homes, are settings in which American values are taught to the next generation.

Question 58

Since early political foundations are deeply set, socialization is unable to continue after early adulthood.

Question 59

Employment has a profound effect on a person's political outlook.

Question 60

National Public Radio (NPR)'s programming is not explicitly ideological.

Question 61

Only when you get roughly the same story from a number of credible sources on a major issue can you be confident that you "understand" the issue.

Question 62

American citizens identify themselves as liberals in higher proportions than do journalists in general.

Question 63

American citizens tend to vote for Democratic candidates for president in much higher proportions than do journalists in general.

Question 64

Aggressive wealth, mostly left leaning and liberal, works through the media to dominate our electoral and democratic processes.

Question 65

The new media of talk radio, cable, and Internet are more overtly ideological than the traditional media.

Question 66

President Trump has co-opted the term "fake news" to brand any news with which he disagrees.

Question 67

For most people, politics and public affairs play an occasional and usually secondary role in their lives.

Question 68

The press is more successful in telling people what to think than what to think about.

Question 69

The more attention television news gives to a particular issue, whether that issue is crime, economic performance, or war, the higher that issue rises in the public's ranking of important issues facing the nation.

Question 70

Episodic framing discourages the public from seeing the connections between issues and from attributing responsibility for the patterns to elected officials and political institutions.

Question 71

Television news is not heavily episodic.

Question 72

Modern polling, based on probability sampling, is a post-World War II invention.

Question 73

A push poll is not a real poll; instead, it is designed to influence voters by providing negative, often false, information.

Question 74

Political pros also know that poll results can be shaped and manipulated by the order in which questions are asked and by the way that they are phrased.

Question 75

As a general rule, citizens can trust polls from organizations that have reputational incentives to be accurate.

Question 76

As a general rule, citizens can trust polls from groups that pop up in the middle of a campaign or that have an issue to support.

Question 77

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton's support among black, Hispanic, and white voters was slightly higher than Barack Obama's supporters in 2012.

Question 78

Most Americans "know" very little about politics, public policy, and political leaders.

Question 79

There is often a wide gap between the general principles that citizens claim to hold and specific choices they make in their communities.

Question 80

Some Americans know more about politics than others do, and this small subset of citizens shapes the politics of the country.