Chapter 6: Public Opinion – Flashcards
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The famous Lincoln-Douglas debates took place
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outside, in the cornfields and town squares of Illinois.
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T/F: Interest groups often spend time and money trying to shape public opinion.
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TRUE
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Liberalism and conservatism are good examples of
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political ideologies.
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The practice of push polling involves
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the procedure of asking loaded questions in order to subtly shape the respondent's opinion.
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Which of the following statements about political opinions is not true?
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The poor are generally less supportive of economic and social programs than the wealthy.
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______ are used by researchers to measure public opinion on sensitive issues without letting respondents know what information is being sought.
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List experiments
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Pollsters use random digit dialing to gather national samples for surveys because
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There is not a complete list of all Americans that can be used to identify the population.
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Which of the following statements about agencies of socialization is incorrect?
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An individual's religion has no impact on their political views.
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The process by which underlying political values are formed is known as
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political socialization.
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A socialist is someone who believes that
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government should be very active in many spheres in order to reduce economic and social inequality.
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The median voter theorem states that
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the most reliable strategy for a politician to take in winning reelection is to adopt policies that are consistent with the preferences of centrist voters.
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T/F: During the formation of an individual's initial political orientation, the influence of family counts for very little.
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FALSE
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Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support
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school prayer.
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The complex set of beliefs and values that, as a whole, form a general philosophy about the government is called
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political ideology.
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The term gender gap refers to
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differences in political opinions between men and women.
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The term public opinion is used to describe
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beliefs and attitudes toward different issues, events, and people.
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Which of the following statements about the relationship between public opinion and government policy is most accurate?
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Although there is no one-to-one correlation between public opinion and government policy, shifts in public opinion on particular issues frequently lead to changes in government policy.
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Which of following phenomena is not an illustration of the gender gap?
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Men are more likely to join political parties and other social organizations.
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A wealthy businessperson who is very liberal is an example of
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the fact that group memberships never fully explain all of an individual's political views.
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A political ideology is best defined as
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a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government.
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Based on recent polling data, what percentage of Americans disagreed with the statement "Any group should be allowed to hold a rally for a cause"?
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31 percent
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Why does the marketplace of ideas often have a moderating effect on people's opinions?
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Given constant exposure to other people's ideas, it is almost impossible for one not to modify one's own viewpoints.
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T/F: Political ideologies do not always provide us with a clear opinion on particular policies.
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TRUE
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Which of the following was not part of the Bush administration's effort to maintain support for its war on terror?
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donations to academic institutions
