Exam 9: Public Opinion

A "push poll" is ____________________.

Politicians are sometimes criticized for being slaves to public opinion instead of leading based on their own opinions of what is the right thing to do.Instead of being ____________________,these politicians simply do whatever the majority of their constituents want them to do.

Which of the following is loyalty or psychological attachment to a political party?

Ideology and partisanship are two fundamental ____________________ that are usually long term and shape people's opinions toward specific politicians and government policies.

Some people believe that politicians and officials in a democratic government should pay close attention to public opinion and try to follow it when possible,because the government not only derives its authority from the people but should also be responsive to their expressed desires.This is the ____________________ model of representation.

The proportion of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats ____________________.

Explain the concept of political socialization.How does the process of socialization influence the opinions a person expresses? What are three likely sources of political socialization for individuals raised in the United States?

The theory of affective intelligence distinguishes between people's dispositions to act in normal situations and how those dispositions can be interrupted when ____________________ comes into play.

Voters appear to separate their opinions about the entire legislative body from their evaluation of their own representatives.They often give ____________________ evaluations of Congress as a whole,while giving a more ____________________ evaluation of their individual representatives or senators.

What is rationality? How does an individual's rational consideration of her interests influence her attitudes toward public policies or public figures? How might a person's rational consideration of her own self-interest lead her to become less informed or involved about important political questions?

Researchers have discovered that ____________________ campaign advertisements with emotional appeals polarize viewers while ____________________ ads have the opposite effect,tending to make people less certain of their convictions.

When individuals pay attention only to relevant information when making choices,make their decisions based on what is in their best interests,and do not systematically make mistakes,instead using new information to correct past mistakes and improve decision making,they are said to be acting ____________________.

Anuk likes ice cream better than cake,and cake better than pie.Her comparative enjoyment of ice cream,cake,and pie is a/an ____________________.

Susan conducts a telephone survey about offshore drilling.The people who respond to her calls are overwhelmingly senior citizens,with very few young adults answering her survey questions.Her sample is likely to be ____________________.

____________________ are casual surveys or polls that are not designed to be statistically accurate.

The process of developing attitudes,opinions,and preferences through contact with family and friends is called ____________________.

Voters are being asked to decide whether to build a new county jail.The public could be cued by politcians,pundits,other public figures,and television ads to consider the proposal in terms of its potential to raise their taxes on the one hand,or as a way to increase the number of jobs available to potential guards,cooks,and social workers on the other.These two types of cues are ____________________.

In terms of religious behavior,the United States more closely resembles ____________________ than ____________________.

As the education level of Americans has steadily increased since the 1950s,the level of public ignorance has ____________________.

Through careful analysis,scholars have shown that government policy changes in a liberal or conservative direction on economic policy come ____________________ a public opinion mood change in the ____________________ direction.This is further evidence of the overall responsiveness of the national government to public opinion.