POSC 1010 COMPLETE EXAM REVIEW
WITH FULL SOLUTIONS
●● public opinion (definition)
Answer: distribution of views on a topic of public interest; views that the
government listens to
●● what are the two opinions that are formed at different points in time?
Answer: 1. some are formed early and remain stable for life
2. others are latent; subject to change
●● latent public opinions are...
Answer: ...those that change over time
●● what are the three ways in which people's public opinion is
discovered?
Answer: 1. regular elections with broad suffrage
2. freedom of speech, press, and association
3. polls and surveys (the best method)
●● public opinion is important for what three reasons?
Answer: 1. politicians pay attention to it
,2. political institutions pay attention to it
3. public opinion impacts political behavior
●● the impact that public opinion has is determined by the aggregate
(large group of people) but...
Answer: ...it is the sum of individual actions
●● political culture (definition)
Answer: pattern of behavior between people and with government
●● what is the "American Creed"?
Answer: the "American Creed" is the American culture
●● political socialization (definition)
Answer: how political culture is communicated amongst people; how
you learned about political culture AND how we communicate political
information AND how we develop our political opinion
●● agents of socialization (definition)
Answer: people and setting that communicate culture and information
●● what are the two main agents of socialization?
Answer: 1. family
,2. school
●● what can impact the socialization aspect of public opinion?
Answer: major transformative events in history
●● political attitude (definition)
Answer: an organized and consistent manner of thinking, feeling, and
reacting; introduces bias
●● political ideology (definition)
Answer: structured sets of political attitudes that reflect core values
●● what are the major U.S ideological labels?
Answer: 1. conservative (right)
2. liberal (democrat)
●● political partisanship (definition)
Answer: allegiance to political party
●● what is the origins of public opinion staircase?
Answer: 1. socialization (bottom)
2. attitudes
, 3. ideology
4. partisanship (top)
●● what is the most important political attitude?
Answer: party identification
●● the personal identity aspect of public opinion...
Answer: ...is psychological = identifying ourselves as the party we are in
●● the cognitive shortcut aspect of public opinion...
Answer: ...is practical = using our political party as a response
●● what are some examples in which life experience effects public
opinion?
Answer: *race & ethnicity
*gender identity
*income
*education
*religion
*generation (age)
*geography (urban OR rural)
WITH FULL SOLUTIONS
●● public opinion (definition)
Answer: distribution of views on a topic of public interest; views that the
government listens to
●● what are the two opinions that are formed at different points in time?
Answer: 1. some are formed early and remain stable for life
2. others are latent; subject to change
●● latent public opinions are...
Answer: ...those that change over time
●● what are the three ways in which people's public opinion is
discovered?
Answer: 1. regular elections with broad suffrage
2. freedom of speech, press, and association
3. polls and surveys (the best method)
●● public opinion is important for what three reasons?
Answer: 1. politicians pay attention to it
,2. political institutions pay attention to it
3. public opinion impacts political behavior
●● the impact that public opinion has is determined by the aggregate
(large group of people) but...
Answer: ...it is the sum of individual actions
●● political culture (definition)
Answer: pattern of behavior between people and with government
●● what is the "American Creed"?
Answer: the "American Creed" is the American culture
●● political socialization (definition)
Answer: how political culture is communicated amongst people; how
you learned about political culture AND how we communicate political
information AND how we develop our political opinion
●● agents of socialization (definition)
Answer: people and setting that communicate culture and information
●● what are the two main agents of socialization?
Answer: 1. family
,2. school
●● what can impact the socialization aspect of public opinion?
Answer: major transformative events in history
●● political attitude (definition)
Answer: an organized and consistent manner of thinking, feeling, and
reacting; introduces bias
●● political ideology (definition)
Answer: structured sets of political attitudes that reflect core values
●● what are the major U.S ideological labels?
Answer: 1. conservative (right)
2. liberal (democrat)
●● political partisanship (definition)
Answer: allegiance to political party
●● what is the origins of public opinion staircase?
Answer: 1. socialization (bottom)
2. attitudes
, 3. ideology
4. partisanship (top)
●● what is the most important political attitude?
Answer: party identification
●● the personal identity aspect of public opinion...
Answer: ...is psychological = identifying ourselves as the party we are in
●● the cognitive shortcut aspect of public opinion...
Answer: ...is practical = using our political party as a response
●● what are some examples in which life experience effects public
opinion?
Answer: *race & ethnicity
*gender identity
*income
*education
*religion
*generation (age)
*geography (urban OR rural)
