Deck 5: Public Opinion and Political Culture Can the People Be Fooled

Question 1

Americans share the basic beliefs that comprise American political culture yet disagree on many issues along lines of class, gender, race, and religion.Take two basic American beliefs (e.g., democracy, individualism, equality, community)and show how each can be interpreted differently depending on one's identity.

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.

Question 2

Explain the differences between liberal and conservative ideologies.Do you think "liberalism" and "conservatism" are accurate labels for the belief systems of contemporary Americans? What other ways of understanding American ideologies might be more useful?

Answer 2

Students' answers may vary.

Question 3

What are generational effects?

Answer 3

Students' answers may vary.
Generational effects are the idea that public opinion is shaped primarily by the collective experience of particular generations in their early adulthood; this concept suggests that distinctive ideas of politics came from the generation that fought World War II, that lived through the Vietnam War, and that experienced the "postmodern" politics of the 1980s.

Question 4

What are the differences between liberalism and conservatism?

Question 5

Who called public opinion a great beast?

A)Walter Lippmann
B)John Dewey
C)E.J.Dionne
D)Alexander Hamilton

Question 6

Explain the process of political socialization.Which agents have the most impact and which are the most important? What do young people today look like given their context?

Question 7

What is democratic elitism?

Question 8

Explain the views of public opinion from elite democrats and popular democrats.Make an argument whether the public is as ignorant and irrational as the elite believe.

Question 9

What are the agents of political socialization?

Question 10

Explain the two alternative ideologies: populism and communitarianism.

Question 11

What is the difference between equality of condition and equality of opportunity?

Question 12

In speaking about equality, Americans usually mean

A)leveling of income so that nobody is either rich or poor.
B)equality of condition.
C)preferential treatment for the economically disadvantaged.
D)equality of opportunity.

Question 13

What is public opinion?

Question 14

Explain the importance of the gender gap.

Question 15

For elite democrats, public opinion

A)forms the basis of rational public policy.
B)is the product of deliberation and a wide variety of information.
C)should not be influential because most people are generally irrational and uninformed.
D)can safely be ignored.

Question 16

Hamilton said public opinion is capricious and

A)a bewildered herd.
B)uninformed.
C)subject to breezes of passion.
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 17

Philosopher John Dewey argued

A)the public already knew all it needed to know for democratic decision making.
B)the strength of public opinion came when citizens lived in communities and had the chance to converse with one another.
C)the public was a bewildered herd.
D)elites in America were committed to fostering greater public knowledge.

Question 18

What is ideology?

Question 19

Public tolerance for advocates of unpopular ideas is often lower than its belief in civil liberties.Choose a couple of unpopular ideas and explain how the public is tolerant of their rights.

Question 20

Explain political culture.

Question 21

E.J.Dionne argues that

A)conservatives have captured American political culture.
B)ordinary Americans do not think consistently about politics.
C)european ideologies are becoming more popular in America.
D)both contemporary liberalism and contemporary conservatism misrepresent the political beliefs of ordinary Americans.

Question 22

Class, racial, gender, and religious differences suggest that

A)Americans are indeed a bewildered herd.
B)commonalities in American political culture are insignificant.
C)public opinion reflects the lines of power and inequality in American politics.
D)public opinion is subject to sudden mood swings.

Question 23

Most Christian fundamentalists are concerned with

A)the excessive power of corporations in the American economy.
B)economic inequality.
C)declining aid to the poor.
D)the permissiveness of American culture.

Question 24

In 1940 George Gallup wrote that

A)polls can manipulate public opinion.
B)polls are the modern substitute for the town meeting.
C)polls are an art and not a science.
D)pollsters had been rejected by recent presidents.

Question 25

The idea behind the deliberative poll is that

A)citizens need more time to think before they answer a pollster.
B)polls should focus on deliberative elites rather than ordinary people.
C)polls are a new form of public deliberation.
D)people should be polled after they have gathered and talked about issues.

Question 26

Upper-income Americans are now more likely than lower-income Americans to oppose

A)tax cuts on capital gains.
B)government programs that create jobs.
C)government efforts to expand foreign trade.
D)spending on defense.

Question 27

Studies of political socialization in schools show that

A)all students receive the same basic political socialization.
B)upper-class students are socialized to elite democratic values.
C)non-college-bound students are socialized to accept working class routines.
D)patriotic rituals are ignored.

Question 28

Which of the following statements concerning gender and public opinion are true?

A)There are no significant differences in political values and beliefs among women.
B)Married women provide support for Republican candidates.
C)Single, working women tend to support egalitarian public policies.
D)Single, working women area most evenly divided in their partisan preferences.

Question 29

On which issue is a gender gap not apparent?

A)Abortion on demand
B)The death penalty
C)Defense budget increases
D)Education and health care issues

Question 30

One characteristic of American political culture is that

A)most Americans prefer to be left alone.
B)many Americans join voluntary associations.
C)individualistic beliefs create widespread skepticism about the idea of civic responsibility.
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 31

Whites and African Americans differ the most on issues that

A)involve segregation at the workplace.
B)involve support for groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
C)attempt to reduce economic inequalities.
D)distinguish between school and neighborhood integration.

Question 32

The primary source of socialization is the _____.

A)church
B)president
C)family
D)media

Question 33

In his deliberative polls, James Fishkin found

A)heightened racial, ethnic, and religious tensions among the participants.
B)that most participants completely changed their political views after speaking with their peers.
C)that most participants became more skeptical of government and of politics in general.
D)that most participants became more tolerant of one another.

Question 34

In general, liberals and conservative have disagreed most on which of the following?

A)A foreign policy based in part on anticommunism
B)Social programs like Medicare and Social Security
C)Government activity to promote economic equality
D)The basic structures of corporate capitalism

Question 35

Lower-income Americans have a lower sense of

A)political efficacy.
B)patriotism.
C)egalitarianism.
D)None of the above is correct.

Question 36

The second most important shaper of political orientation is _____.

A)the president
B)schooling
C)the media
D)the church.

Question 37

Which of the following is true about ideologies over the last two decades?

A)There has been an increase in the number of liberals.
B)More than a third of people call themselves moderates.
C)There has been a conservative tide leading to a vast majority of Americans saying they are conservatives.
D)None of the above is true.

Question 38

Which of the following is not true about political socialization in the family?

A)Politics is a central topic of discussion in almost all American families.
B)Children learn basic attitudes toward the world in the family.
C)Moral values relevant to politics are learned in the family.
D)Families are not as influential as they once were in transmitting political party allegiances.

Question 39

One objection that a popular democrat might voice to polling is that polls

A)don't follow professional standards.
B)don't give an accurate results.
C)are not used as much as they might be.
D)don't allow for the discussion and learning that takes place when citizens actually come together.

Question 40

E.J.Dionne is reluctant to put an ideological label on what other analysts have referred to as the _____  and _____ strain in American public opinion.

A)populist; communitarian
B)populist; authoritarian
C)communitarian; socialist
D)socialist;  democratic

Question 41

Which of the following is true about political tolerance in the contemporary United States?

A)People today tend to be less tolerant of minority groups compared to the 1950s.
B)Few Americans agree that a communist should be allowed to make a public speech.
C)Older generations tend to be more tolerant than younger generations.
D)A significant majority of Americans agree that homosexuals should be allowed to teach college.

Question 42

Democratic elitism refers to the idea that

A)the uneducated masses are the most tolerant of groups in America.
B)elites are the real defenders of democratic values.
C)elites tend to be undemocratic.
D)democracy cannot exist without a fully educated citizenry.