Exam 3 Flashcards
Public Opinion
the collective attitudes and beliefs of individuals on one or more issues
Public Opinion Polls
scientific efforts to estimate what an entire group thinks about an issue by asking a smaller sample of the group for its opinion
What are the two reasons as to why public opinion is important to democracy?
we believe public opinion should influence what government does; a lot of people actaully behave as though public opinion does matter
What do elitists suspect?
that citizens are too ignorant or ill-informed to be trusted with major political decisions
Pluralists…..
trusts groups of citizens to be competent on those issues in which they have a stake, but they think individuals may be too busy to gather all of the info needed to make informed decisions
Participatory Democracy proponents….
have faith that the people are both smart enough and able to gather enough information to be effective decision makers
Ideal Democratic Citizen
virtuous citizen activated by concerns for the common good, who recognizes the democracy carries obligations and rights; should be attentive, informed, exhibit political tolerance, willingness to compromise, and high levels of participation in civic activities
What is the competing view of American citizens?
that Americans are apolitical and self interested actors; inattentive, ill informed, politically intolerant, and unlikely to get involved in political life
How do Americans as a group behave?
often behave as ideal citizens, even though as individuals they are not
What have polls concluded about Americans?
that they are not well informed about their political system
In studies, the least politically tolerant are….
consistently the less educated and less politically sophisticated
Political Socialization
the process by which we learn our political orientations and allegiances; transferred from generation to generation
What are the agents of socialization?
family, school, house of worship, etc
Patriotism
strong emotional attatchement to the political community
Spiral of Silence
process by which a majority opinion becomes exagerrated because minorities do not feel comfortable speaking out in opposition
African Americans are typically…
more liberal than whites, but on social issues like abortion and prayer in schools the racial differencs are more muted; they are also the most solidly democratic group in terms of party identification and voting
Gender Gap
the tendency of men and women to differ in their political views on some issues
The gender gap is substantial….
females are more liberal on social welfare (aid for children, elderly, and poor) and females are less favorable to the death penalty and less willing than men to go to war
Women are more ___________ than men
liberal
On “womens issues” the gender gap is….
small
Marriage Gap
the tendency for married people to hold political opinions that differ from those of people who have never been married
What is the only exception to there being a age difference?
political engagement; older people tend to be more engaged with politics
Political Generations
groups of citizens whose political views have been shaped by the common events of their youth
Generational Replacement
as older groups die, overall opinion among citizenry changes
What does liberalism stand for?
faith in gov. action to bring about equitable outcomes and social tolerance
What does conservatism stand for?
preference for limited gov. and tradtional social values
Partisan Sorting
process through which citizens align themselves ideologically with one of the two parties, leaving fewer citizens remaining in the center and increasing party polarization
Democratic Enlightenment
refers to a citizens ability to hold democratic beliefs, including the idea that politics is about compromise and that sometimes the needs of the whole will conflict with individual preferences
Democratic Engagement
refers to a citizens ability to understand his or her own intersts and how to pursue them in politics
Better educated citizens are….
more likely to be informed about politics, be tolerant and committed to democratic principles and to vote and participate at all levels of the political system
Where do a lot of political preferences come from?
an assesment of what is best for them economically; “Whats in it for me?”
Those who adhere to traditional religious beliefs and practices tend to…
take a conservative position on an array of social issues
Those that say they have no religious affiliation are typically more…
liberal
Opinions in the south…
remain more conservative on civil rights but also on other social issues
City dwellers are more..
democratic and liberal
What sample size is very representative of the US if it is a random draw?
1000-2000
Random Samples
samples chosen in such a way that any member of the population being pulled has an equal chance of being selected
Sample Bias
the effect of having a sample that does not represent all segments of the population
Non-Responsive Bias
a skewing of data that occurs when there is a difference in opinion between those who choose to participate and those who do not
Telephone polls will typically have
more elderly women and few younger men
Weighting
adjustments to surveys during analysis so that selected demographic groups reflect their values in the population, usually measured by the census
Sampling Error
a number that indicates within what range the results of a poll are accurate; typically a margin of error plus or minus 3
Larger sample=
smaller sampling error, but samples larger than 2000 add very little in the way of reliability
On a poll questions should not be….
ambiguous, should not lead repondents to a conclusion, avoid using words that result in strong emotion
National Polls
are efforts to measure public opinion within a limited time period using a national representative sample
Benchmark Polls
an initial poll on a candidate and issues on which campaign strategy is based and against which later polls are compared; instrumental in designing campaign strategy
Tracking Polls
an ongoing series of surveys that follow changes in public opinion over time; daily samples are too small but when averaged over time they provide a dynamic view of changes in voters preferences and perception
Exit Polls
election related questions asked of voters right after they vote; can be used to predict winners early but are not always accurate
Pseudo Polls
opinion studies wrongly presented as polls; tell you only the opinions of that portion of the media outlet; ex- viewer/listener call in polls and internet polls
Push Polls
polls that ask for reaction to hypothetically, often false, information in order to manipulate public opinion
Survey Experiments
by social scientists; not really about public opion but instead to deepen our understanding of public attitudes; questions are manipulated to try to get respondents to disclose more than they think they are
