American Federal Government Chapter 6
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A member of congress who wants to act on what the majority of his or her constituency thinks on a particular issue would be advised to respond to which of the following indicators?
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a poll based on a random sample of constituents
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The accuracy of a poll is usually expressed in terms of
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sampling error
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In his definition of public opinion, the author claims that the opinions of private individuals become public opinion when they
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are openly expressed
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Sources of polling error can include
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All these answers are correct
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The process by which individuals acquire their public opinions is called
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political socialization
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As an agent of political socialization, the American family has its greatest effect on the individuals'
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party identification
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A consistent pattern of opinion on particular issues that stems from a coherent set of political beliefs is called
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an ideology
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The only presidential election in which the Gallup poll erred badly was
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1948 Truman-Dewey
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Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's "spiral of silence" theory contends that
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most individuals are reluctant to speak out against dominant opinion
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A person who favors government intervention in both social and economic affairs is a
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populist
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A conservative is opposed to government intervention
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in the economic but not the social spheres
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Libertarians are opposed to government intervention
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in both the economic and social spheres
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Americans who attend religious services at least once a week are most likely to vote for which political party?
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Republican
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Three-fourths of Ivy League students surveyed could not identify ______ as the author of the phrase, "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people".
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Abraham Lincoln
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The most powerful religious force in contemporary American society is
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religious right
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Which of the following ideological types favor government activism in the economic realm?
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liberals and populists
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In terms of party identification, about two-thirds of adults call themselves
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Republicans or Democrats
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Journalist Walter Lippmann suggested that
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effective government cannot be run by politicians that base their public opinions on poll results
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The accuracy of polling is diminished when respondents
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give what they regard as the socially correct response
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Which of the following is true of letter writers and demonstrators?
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Their opinions tend to be atypical of the population as a whole.
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In a test of "civic literacy" conducted in 2007, the average college senior scored a grade of ______.
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F
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Women are less likely than men to favor
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the use of force to settle international disputes
