Deck 7: Public Opinion

Question 1

U.S. Senators were not popularly elected until the __________ Amendment.

A) Fourteenth
B) Tenth
C) Sixteenth
D) Seventeenth
E) Nineteenth

Answer 1

D

Question 2

If any given voter has an equal chance of being in a survey, the sample is best described as a __________ sample.

A) random
B) stratified quota
C) split
D) two-stage
E) bifurcated

Answer 2

A

Question 3

During a local and national survey by the University of Cincinnati, researchers asked individuals whether they favored passage of the Monetary Control Bill and found that

A) public opinion was deeply divided.
B) public opinion unanimously condemned the legislation.
C) many people expressed views about the legislation, although it was entirely fictitious.
D) the legislation was still pending.
E) Congress had passed the legislation only two days before the surveys were conducted.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The Framers knew that in a nation as large and diverse as the United States there would rarely be any such thing as "public opinion;" rather there would be

A) no organized opinion.
B) one determining point of view of most issues.
C) many "publics" holding many opinions.
D) one powerful interest group dominating the debate.
E) chaos of opinion.

Question 5

In his analysis of public opinion concerning school vouchers, Terry M. Moe found that citizens supplied with basic information can

A) have an in-depth understanding of the issue.
B) participate in a very knowledgeable debate regarding the issue.
C) adopt their positions for good substantive reasons.
D) fail to understand the issue.
E) become more trustful of the government.

Question 6

Through a process called __________, the pollster makes a list of all the geographical units in the country and groups them by size of their population.

A) stratified or multistage sampling
B) bifurcated sampling
C) snowball sampling
D) convenience sampling
E) split sampling

Question 7

James Madison felt that direct popular participation in the decisions of government was

A) a recipe for disaster.
B) an eventual goal of the new republic.
C) to be achieved by amending the Constitution.
D) the problem with the British form of government.
E) the desire of his political enemies.

Question 8

Which best describes the Framers' opinion on the role of public opinion in government?

A) The Framers thought that public opinion should play only a limited and indirect role in making public policy.
B) The Framers favored a direct role for the public in policy making.
C) The Framers felt that our experience as colonies of Great Britain showed us that the public needs to vote on most major issues of government.
D) The Framers wanted the United States to be a direct democracy.
E) The Framers felt that the public's role should be limitless.

Question 9

Although early studies of American public opinion and voting found low information levels, they also found that Americans were pretty good at

A) working the system to get the policies that they desired.
B) contacting candidates on a regular basis.
C) discussing complex political issues.
D) employing cues to select policies, parties, and candidates that most nearly reflected their values and interests.
E) explaining the workings of government and major currents in law.

Question 10

Exit polls are conducted

A) just after a voter registers to vote.
B) during the national conventions.
C) on election day at polling places.
D) after each presidential debate.
E) when voters change their party identification.

Question 11

The Framers created a government for the purpose of

A) unifying citizens.
B) achieving certain substantive goals.
C) efficiency in the administration of justice.
D) accomplishing the will of the people.
E) ensuring that the will of the majority would be realized.

Question 12

Since 1952, most major polls have

A) picked the winner of the presidential election.
B) sampled fewer people each year.
C) sampled more people each year.
D) been administered by mail.
E) been flawed.

Question 13

If properly conducted, a survey of public opinion can capture opinions of 300 million citizens by interviewing as few as __________ respondents.

A) 300
B) 500
C) 1,000
D) 1,500
E) 3,000

Question 14

One reason that public policy often differs from public opinion is that

A) the U.S. Constitution places many checks on the influence of public opinion.
B) public opinion polling tends to express the opinions of a political elite.
C) public opinion is easy to gauge, whereas the effectiveness of public policy is not.
D) public opinion tends to change much more slowly than public policy.
E) public opinion is rarely informed at the beginning of the policymaking process.

Question 15

When people care more about an issue than other people do, they are said to have

A) opinion curiosity.
B) opinion policy congruence.
C) opinion stability.
D) opinion saliency.
E) opinion agreement.

Question 16

The first major studies of public opinion and voting, published in the 1940s, found that

A) most Americans were well informed about politics even though they did not vote regularly.
B) most Americans voted regularly and were well informed about politics.
C) a small group of Americans voted but were not well informed about politics.
D) a small group of Americans were informed, but most Americans were not.
E) it was difficult to generalize about Americans when it came to politics.

Question 17

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution lists all of the following goals of government except

A) union.
B) justice.
C) liberty.
D) democracy.
E) tranquility.

Question 18

A public opinion pollster might need to make as many as __________ phone calls just to get about one thousand respondents for a survey.

A) 2,000
B) 4,000
C) 6,000
D) 10,000
E) 15,000

Question 19

According to the results from a "U.S. Citizenship Test" administered by Newsweek magazine, only __________ of the test takers knew that the U.S. House of Representatives had 435 members.

A) 75 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 14 percent
D) 4 percent
E) 48 percent

Question 20

The difference between the results of two surveys or samples is called

A) research flaws.
B) sampling error.
C) type one error.
D) type two error.
E) confidence error.

Question 21

What trait has been shown to influence one's political opinions?

A) Age
B) Gender
C) Religion
D) Race
E) All of the above have been shown to influence one's political opinions.

Question 22

People of all religions who attend worship services regularly are more likely to vote

A) Republican.
B) Independent.
C) Democrat.
D) Green Party.
E) Constitutional Party.

Question 23

Most blue-collar workers in the United States think of themselves as

A) working-class.
B) lower-class.
C) middle-class.
D) upper-class.
E) elites.

Question 24

Americans speak of "social class" with

A) pride.
B) embarrassment.
C) contempt.
D) lack of knowledge.
E) None of the above is True.

Question 25

An individual's choice of political philosophy today is most likely to be based on his or her

A) position on social issues such as abortion or environmentalism.
B) geographic region and socioeconomic class.
C) position on economic issues such as taxation or minimum wage.
D) gender.
E) religious beliefs.

Question 26

Most blue-collar workers in Great Britain and France think of themselves as

A) working-class.
B) lower-class.
C) middle-class.
D) upper-class.
E) elites.

Question 27

When researchers compare how identical twins (who are genetically the same) think about politics with how fraternal twins (who share only half of their genes) think about politics, they found

A) that both groups held similar political opinions.
B) fraternal twins held similar political opinions to one another, compared to identical twins.
C) identical twins are much more likely to have similar political views than fraternal twins.
D) the partisan view of the parents make up more than genes.
E) None of the above is True.

Question 28

Based on the 2009 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, this nation had the lowest percentage of individuals who held a favorable view of the American people.

A) Pakistan
B) Jordan
C) France
D) South Korea
E) Turkey

Question 29

The __________ to the U.S. Constitution ensures that women have the right to vote.

A) Seventeenth Amendment
B) Eighteenth Amendment
C) Nineteenth Amendment
D) Twentieth Amendment
E) Twenty-First Amendment

Question 30

__________ is the process by which personal and other background traits influence one's views about politics and government.

A) Political socialization
B) Political identification
C) Political memory
D) Political positioning
E) Political foundation

Question 31

Women are more likely than men to favor all of the following except

A) universal health care.
B) environmental protection regulations.
C) more military spending.
D) anti-poverty programs.
E) activist government.

Question 32

Studies that have shown that genes affect our political opinions also suggest that

A) genes do not have much of an effect on our party affiliation.
B) one can use genetic information to perfectly predict how another may vote.
C) people are predisposed to one political party.
D) genes have no effect on part affiliation.
E) None of the above is True.

Question 33

Cleavages in public opinion are more common in the United States than in many other countries because the United States

A) has a socially diverse population.
B) is a relatively classless society.
C) has a high degree of religious freedom.
D) places a high value on social equality.
E) is more protective of freedom of press.

Question 34

Which statement regarding the voting habits of men/women is incorrect?

A) Both men and women voting reflect distinct differences in points of view.
B) The gender gap that is evident between their points of view is not new.
C) Men have forsaken the Democratic Party.
D) Women have forsaken the Republican Party.
E) Women have forsaken the Green Party.

Question 35

When the government is out of sync with the popular views on an issue, there is

A) opinion curiosity.
B) opinion-policy congruence.
C) opinion stability.
D) opinion saliency.
E) opinion agreement.

Question 36

The text suggests that our genetic background explains

A) some of our political ideology.
B) some of our party identification.
C) some of our political socialization.
D) some of our group memberships.
E) None of the above is True.

Question 37

Today, adults under 30 differ markedly from senior citizens (persons age 65 and older) in their opinions on

A) social change.
B) religiosity.
C) immigration.
D) civic engagement.
E) All of the above are True.

Question 38

When using the term "elite," social scientists are referring to

A) people who are better than others.
B) people who have some valued resource, such as money, schooling, prestige, or political power.
C) people born into the "right" family.
D) people with royal titles.
E) only the people that hold political office.

Question 39

According to the text, one reason that identification with a party has declined in recent years is that

A) young voters have weaker party identification.
B) party identification today is no longer influenced by parents' party identification.
C) today, there are more parties with which voters can identify.
D) voters tend to lose their party identification as they grow older, and today's population is aging.
E) party identification is increasingly seen as a sign of closed-mindedness.

Question 40

Which groups of people were referred to as "red-diaper babies" by commentators in the 1960s?

A) College radicals who were the children of radicals
B) Republicans whose parents were communists
C) Democrats who opposed the use of force in all circumstances
D) High school students who supported the war in Vietnam
E) Newspaper editors who were critical of Richard Nixon

Question 41

__________ are today the nation's largest minority group with more than 50 million people.

A) African Americans
B) Latinos
C) Asian Americans
D) Native Americans
E) Persians

Question 42

In America, we often refer to political elites as

A) activists.
B) special interests.
C) politicos.
D) socialites.
E) the ruling class.

Question 43

Studies of opinion-policy congruence suggest that the rate at which the government adopts policies supported by majorities in polls has

A) remained the same over the last four decades.
B) slightly increased in recent years.
C) increased significantly in recent years.
D) been declining since 1980.
E) been declining since the beginning of the Bush administration.

Question 44

Unskilled workers are more likely than affluent white-collar workers to be

A) Republicans.
B) Independents.
C) members of the upper class.
D) Democrats.
E) Green Party members.

Question 45

Which of the following statements about the opinions of political elites is correct?

A) They may shape economic policies, but they do not define economic problems.
B) They may shape foreign affairs policies, but they do not define foreign affairs problems.
C) They both define the problems and shape the policies on social issues such as crime and drugs.
D) They tend to reflect the views of a single, unified elite.
E) They tend to reflect the views of middle America.

Question 46

According to the text, African Americans are

A) somewhat Republican.
B) largely Republican.
C) generally Independent.
D) somewhat Democratic.
E) overwhelming Democratic.

Question 47

Elites have probably influenced, if not led, public opinion on all of the following topics EXCEPT

A) racism.
B) sexism.
C) HIV/AIDS.
D) environmentalism.
E) perceptions of crime.

Question 48

A coherent and consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue is referred to as

A) political efficacy.
B) public opinion.
C) pragmatism.
D) realism.
E) political ideology.

Question 49

One reason that political elites are more consistent in their ideological beliefs than the average citizen is that they are

A) less influenced by peers.
B) less influenced by factors such as religion and family.
C) smarter.
D) better informed.
E) more influenced by religion.

Question 50

Economic issues are most likely to be placed on the public agenda by

A) political elites.
B) public opinion.
C) economic analysts.
D) regulatory commissions.
E) economic theorists.

Question 51

Political activism is correlated most closely with

A) political conservatism.
B) libertarian politics.
C) gender.
D) class differentiation.
E) ideological consistency.

Question 52

African Americans are more likely than whites to

A) support affirmative action.
B) think the criminal justice system is biased against them.
C) to oppose the use of military force.
D) to doubt that we should all be willing to fight for our country.
E) All of the above are True.

Question 53

Compared with European countries such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, class voting in the United States has

A) also risen sharply.
B) remained relatively steady.
C) also declined sharply.
D) always been more common.
E) increased slightly.

Question 54

Pollsters have to be concerned about ideological self-identification in polls because

A) many Americans do not know what liberalism and conservatism mean.
B) many Americans do not feel the need to be ideologically consistent.
C) some respondents will hide what they think to be socially unacceptable self-identifications.
D) the desire to hide self-identifications might inflate responses of "don't know" or "moderate."
E) All of the above are True.

Question 55

No Democratic candidate for president has won a majority of white southern votes since

A) Bill Clinton
B) Jimmy Carter
C) John Kerry
D) Al Gore
E) Lyndon Johnson

Question 56

Most studies on Latino voting show that people from Mexico vote heavily __________, and Latinos from Cuba mostly vote __________.

A) Republican; Democrat
B) Independent; Republican
C) Democrat; Republican
D) Independent; Independent
E) Democrat; Democrat

Question 57

When an individual's views are consistently conservative or liberal, we say that person is ideologically

A) tuned.
B) constrained.
C) aligned.
D) placed.
E) sealed.

Question 58

Increasingly, pollsters

A) do not even attempt to measure ideology.
B) measure political ideology by self-identification.
C) measure political ideology by looking for constraint.
D) see political ideology as irrelevant to politics.
E) research ideology in presidential, but not congressional, elections.

Question 59

V. O. Key's classic research in the 1950s found that differences in public opinion were closely associated with

A) ethnicity.
B) race.
C) gender.
D) occupation.
E) religion.

Question 60

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

A) Democratic members of Congress tend to be consistently liberal.
B) Republican members of Congress tend to be consistently conservative.
C) Democratic members of Congress tend to be more liberal than Democratic voters.
D) Republican members of Congress tend to be more conservative than Republican voters.
E) The policy preferences of Democratic and Republican voters are generally the same.

Question 61

The text suggests that it is increasingly more difficult to conduct reliable polling.

Question 62

Social class is probably a better indicator of political attitudes in Great Britain or France than in the United States.

Question 63

Public policy is invariably consistent with public opinion.

Question 64

One way in which the family forms and transmits political beliefs is by its religious tradition.

Question 65

In the 2012 presidential elections, a large majority of Latinos voted Republican.

Question 66

The more informed a person is about politics, the more likely he or she is to be ideologically consistent in his or her thought.

Question 67

Early academic studies of public opinion found that voters were generally informed about issues and governmental processes.

Question 68

When it came to civil liberties and civil rights, Madison and the other Framers were not willing to empower even persistent majorities or subject fundamental freedoms to a popular vote.

Question 69

The gender gap in U.S. public opinion has existed for a long time.

Question 70

In recent years, economic issues have become much more important than noneconomic issues in shaping political attitudes.

Question 71

We have recently learned that our genetic background explains much of our political ideology.

Question 72

Studies suggest that staunch conservatives lean toward the Republican Party.

Question 73

The Democratic advantage among female voters is obvious.

Question 74

Based on public opinion research, the American public is highly knowledgeable about government.

Question 75

Most Americans do not employ the words "liberal" or "conservative" when explaining their political beliefs and preferences.

Question 76

A person's age tends to not have much effect on that individual's political opinions.

Question 77

Most blue-collar workers in America think of themselves as "working class."

Question 78

The Founding Fathers believed that most average citizens lacked the time, information, energy, interest, and experience to decide on public policy.

Question 79

The ability of the family to inculcate a strong sense of party identification has declined in recent years.

Question 80

The proportion of citizens who claim to be independents has declined in recent years.