1. Public Opinion and Political Socialization
Chapter 11
Public Opinion and Political Socialization

2. Test A B C D
Response 29

3. Which of the following refers to the beliefs about government citizens hold most deeply?
Ethnic pride
Party identification
Policy attitude
Group identity
Political culture
Response 1

4. Political Culture
Beliefs about government and politics that people in the United States hold most deeply
Government uses public opinion to gauge the political culture of the U.S.

5. Which of the following statements about voting behavior is correct?
Men are more likely to vote than women
Blue-collar workers are more likely to vote than are professionals
Those with a lower education are more likely to vote than are college graduates
Democrats are more likely to vote than are Republicans
Senior citizens are more likely to vote than are college students
Response 1

6. What is Public Opinion?
What the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time.
Decision makers use public opinion polls to gauge what the public is thinking.

7. How Congress Members Use Public Opinion
Gauge public interest
Help shape agenda/policy
Used by parties/candidates during election
Members of Congress vote based on strong public opinion expressed in polling results
Delegate role: Congress members act as a true representative, vote the way their people want.
Elections can hold members of Congress accountable to the opinions of the people

8. Newspaper endorsements Gender Presidential endorsement Partisanship
Which of the following is the leading predictor of how an individual will vote in a congressional election?
Newspaper endorsements
Gender
Presidential endorsement
Partisanship
Occupation
Response 1

9. Factors that Decrease the Influence of Public Opinion
Legislator’s voting records
A candidate tends to vote some ways, regardless of what the voters think
Trustee role: Congress members are trusted to make the best decisions
Party Leadership in Congress: To gain the support of the party, members might vote with their party and against public’s opinion
Supreme Court Appointments
Serve for life, limits the opinion of the public
Appointed, cannot be removed no matter how unpopular the decision is

10. Of the following, the most important role in the political socialization of children is played by
Peer groups
Religion
Family
Media
School
Response 1

11. Factors Influencing Opinion Formation
Family
School and Peers
Mass Media
Social Groups (Religion, Race, Gender, Age, and Region)

12. How Family and Peers Affect Opinion Formation
#1 factor in opinion formation
Children tend to take on political views of their parents
School and Peers
More so as children get older.
High school can positively affect political participation.

13. Participant Leaders
Points
Participant

14. What percentage of your current points would you like to wager on the next question?0%
25%
50%
75%
100%

15. Which of the following groups have historically been more supportive of the Democratic Party?
Caucasians
African Americans
Business leaders
College graduates
Senior Citizens
Response 30

16. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation
Race and Ethnicity
African Americans more likely to vote Democratic
Whites more likely to vote Republican
Hispanics and Native Americans hold similar opinions on many issues
Differences within the Hispanic community
Cuban Americans more likely conservative
Hispanics of Mexican origin in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, or Colorado more likely Democratic.

17. A conservative would probably support which of the following?
Higher taxes
Scaling back laws that regulate industry
Affirmative action
Increasing access to abortions
Increasing the power of federal bureaucracies
Response 10

18. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation
Religion
20th Century: faith-based political activity occurred largely on the left. (Civil rights, improving living standards, abolition of death penalty)
Protestants most conservative
Jews most liberal
Regular church-goers vote Republican by a 2 to 1 margin

19. The fastest-growing age group in the United States is
Under 25
26-40
41-65
Over 65
Response 30

20. Participant Leaders
Points
Participant

21. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation
Age
“Graying of America”: Population of the United States is getting older, especially the Baby Boomers.
Fastest growing age group in U.S. are citizens over 65
Older people tend to vote more and be more involved.
Older people tend to favor government actions that favor them (Medicare, Social Security, tax breaks for the elderly, etc.)

22. 2008 v Electoral College
What are some similarities that you notice?

23. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation
Region
South
“Solid South”
Used to be primarily Democratic, until the 1960s
Today, tends to vote Republican
North
Less religious activity than the south
Less conservative than the south, but fairly Democratic region
West
Anti-government bias
People move to avoid city-life
West Coast/East Coast
Tend to be liberal and vote Democratic

24. Which of the following is most important for getting an accurate measure of public opinion?
Surveying only cell phone users
Selecting a random sample
Asking leading questions
Contacting only registered voters
Conducting the survey online
Response 30

25. Characteristics of Valid Public Opinion Polls
Four factors determine the accuracy of a poll:
How the sample is selected: randomly (random sampling)
most important towards the accuracy
Representative sampling: every person has the same opportunity to be elected
The size of the sample: the larger the sample=more accurate results
Margin of Error: All polls contain a margin for error
Question Wording

26. Participant Leaders
Points
Participant

27. What percentage of your current points would you like to wager on the next question?0%
25%
50%
75%
100%

28. Exit polls Push polls Tracking polls Slide polls Straw polls
Which of the following polls are used to provide information on where candidates stand in relation to their opponents during an election?
Exit polls
Push polls
Tracking polls
Slide polls
Straw polls
Response 30

29. Political Polls Push polls: polls designed to get a specific response
Untruthful/inaccurate information about other candidates
Tracking polls: Information on where candidates stand compared to other candidates
Horserace journalism
Exit polls: polls to gauge voter choices
Used by media to predict key races

30. The strength of the public’s feelings about an issue is known as
Intensity
Saliency
Stability
Intransigence
Zealotry 10

31. Shortcoming of Polls
Margin of error/Sampling error: all polls have errors, must be accounted for
Limited respondent options: hard to gauge a person’s feelings
Lack of information
Intensity/Wording of
questions

32. Participant Leaders
Points
Participant