Chapter 7 Flashcards
Public opinion
How people think or feel about particular things
Poll
A survey of public opinion
If a poll is conducted properly, what can it do?
Capture the opinions of 250 million citizens by interviewing as few as 1,500 of then
List a several keys to good polling
Posing comprehensible questions
Wording questions fairly
Random sample
Method of selecting from population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected
Sampling error
The difference between the results of two random surveys or samples taken at the same time
Exit polls
Interviews with randomly selected voters conducted at polling places on Election Day
Opinion saliency
Some people care more about certain issues or choices than other people do
Opinion stability
On some issues or choices opinions are pretty steady, while on others they tend to be more volatile
Opinion-policy congruence
On some issues government seems largely in sync with the popular views or majority sentiments, while on other issues it seems significantly out of sync
Political socialization
The prices by which personal and other background traits influence one’s views about politics and government matters
Elite
People who have a disproportionate amount of some valued resource
The best-studied case of formation is that of what?
Party identification
Is public opinion easy to measure?
No
Whose opinions carry more weight?
Active and knowledgable people
What did the first major academic studies published in the 1940s reveal about American democracy?
The vast majority of citizens knew next to nothing about government an had vague nations even on matters that directly affected them.
Advantages of polls
Good for capturing public opinion, usually accurate
Disadvantages
Expensive, difficult to conduct in timely matter, unresponsive people
Why is random sampling necessary?
To ensure reasonably accurate measure of how entire population thinks or feels.
Cleavages
Splits and differences in opinion on political issue
Cross cutting cleavage
Differences between political preferences based on more than one variable, such as race, ethnicity, religion, education, etc.
Is class voting still in existence in the US? Why?
Yes. Unskilled workers tend to be democrats, & affluent people Republicans, but class views are much more similar
Is race an ethnicity in America a source of cleavage in the US?
Yes. Blacks are overwhelmingly democrats. Whites are more likely to be republican. On certain issues like affirmative action, blacks and whites disagree. On many others they agree. Asians tend to be more conservative, while Hispanics are generally liberal. Race differences are decreasing.
Explain how geographic regions affect political attitudes in the US.
The south has been more accommodating to free enterprise & business and less to organized labor than the northeast.
Southerner s tend to be more conservative & less attached to Democratic Party.
