Exam 7: Public Opinion, ideology, participation, and Voting

Which of the following is the most influential factor when voters develop the political attitudes they take into elections?

Oregon is the only state to have switched to vote-by-mail as its means to conduct elections and has suffered lower voter turnout because of it.

What are the implications for public policy when public opinion pollsters find that the public is polarized on an issue?

How are intensity of public opinion and salience related?

Jared is a high school student.He belongs to the student council and takes driver's education classes once a week at the motor club across town.Which group is likely to have more of an impact on Jared's political opinions and values: his student council classmates or his driving-school classmates? Explain your reasoning.

Two major schools of political ideology dominate American politics.What are they?

People tend to belong to the same political party as __________.

Since 1952,there have been an equal number of Democratic and Republican presidents.Beyond party identification,the main factor that accounts for this is __________.

As people get older,they are less likely to vote.

The __________ of public opinion means the proportion of the population that holds a particular view.

What is the term for the proportion of the voting-age public that votes?

Social conservatives differ from traditional conservatives in that they support which of the following?

Retrospective voting is more common than prospective voting.

An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire over the course of their lifetime is known as what?

Political socialization is a process that continues throughout our lives.

Voters who carefully follow public affairs are known as which of the following?

The fact that today's Americans are not well informed about politics is consistent with the conclusions of scholars who have found that users of _________ "are no more knowledgeable about politics (in general and about the field of presidential candidates)than are their counterparts and,in fact,seem to be less so."

Gabriel is a white middle-class father of two,who works as a librarian in the public library system of a large city in the American West.He is 57 years old.Although Gabriel is generally inclined to support Democratic candidates whose policies provide an economic safety net for those hardest hit by recessions,he will occasionally vote Republican or as an Independent.He is especially concerned about equal access to health care and is inclined to support more aggressive measures to protect the environment from careless polluters.In terms of political ideology,how is Gabriel likely to self-classify himself?

Voters who hold the belief that government can bring about justice and equality of opportunity subscribe to what political ideology?

When people come together,listen to each other,exchange ideas,and learn to appreciate each other's differences,they are engaging in __________.