GOV: Public Opinion(ch 7)

Question 1

public opinion and democracy

Answer 1

what most americans think about political issues

Question 2

discrepancies between public opinion and government policies

Answer 2

• public opinion is not the purpose of government therefore they make laws in whole best interest
• there are checks on public opinion to prevent public opinion from being government opinion: ie we have a representative gov, federalism, separation of powers, and an independent judiciary far removed from public opinion
• discerning public opinion is difficult: polls and data can be skewed, opinion changes rapidly

Question 3

steps to conducting a scientific poll

Answer 3

1. define the universe: whose opinion do we want?
2. construct a sample–representative slice of total universe (how many people does it need to accurately represent the majority). all samples must be random. quota sample: a sample deliberately constructed to reflect several of the major characteristics of a given universe
3. prepare a valid question, make as unbiased as possible
4. interview and conduct a poll
5. analyze and report findings

Question 4

use of polls in politics

Answer 4

• benchmark poll: used by prospective candidates to identify which message to emphasize
• tracking poll: done during a campaign, tracks how a candidate is doing on a day-day basis given the political events of the day and whos in the lead
• exit poll: predicts winners, asks people after they vote who they voted for

Question 5

problems with polls

Answer 5

sampling errors: margin of error +/- 3%

• not enough respondents
• shaping polls: bandwagon effects: pushes people in one direction/the other typically based on who else everyone else is voting for

Question 6

criteria for polls

Answer 6

random sample, comprehensible qs–need to have basic knowledge, fairly asked–no loaded or emotional words, carefully considered answering categories to measure intensity–strongly agree/disagree/scale 1-10, not every difference in answers is a significant difference–margin of error

Question 7

how opinions differ

Answer 7

• saliency: how strong we feel to an issue
• stability: public opinion changes
• opinion policy congruence: discrepancy bw public opinion and policy
• political socialization: parental influence, vary with class, race, religion, gender, etc
• elite opinions: know more about politics, more likely to hold a consistent set of opinions about policies

Question 8

political ideology

Answer 8

A more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue

liberal: more gov involvement in economic (not social) issues, mainstream KNOW WHO MAKES UP A TRADITIONAL LIBERAL/CONSERVATIVE
conservative: less gov in economics, more in social issues

Question 9

political elites, public opinion, and public policy

Answer 9

influence, raise, and frame political issues, state norms by which to settle the issues and define policy options
-limit: they cant completely define economic crime, and other problems rooted in personal experience, they also contradict and dont agree

Question 10

public opinion “then”

Answer 10

founding fathers believed that average citizens lacked time, information, energy, interest, and experience to decide on public policy

Question 11

public opinion types

Answer 11

opinion saliency: some care more about certain issues than others
opinion stability: opinions tend to be more volatile
opinion policy congruence: some issues government agrees with public, others not

Question 12

political socialization

Answer 12

the process by which personal and other background traits influence ones views about politics and government

Question 13

new polling to determine party

Answer 13

instead of asking “are you conservative, liberal, etc?” they ask multiple questions and use answers to sort them into a half dozen different groups