Kenny POLI 2051 exam 2 Questions and Answers 100% Pass

Kenny POLI 2051 exam 2 Questions and Answers 100% Pass public opinion - the collected attitudes of citizens on a given issue or question why is public opinion important? - In a democracy, there must be a link between what the public thinks and what the government does -- the nature of this link can vary greatly who is most interested in public opinion? - elected officials: public opinion may influence government decision making academics: seek to understand why people behave the way that they do the people: may be motivated to become active in politics Is the public capable of governing? How would you know? - Surveys show that people: ○ Are not very interested in politics ○ Are ignorant of much that goes on politically ○ Rely heavily on cues/shortcuts rather than informed issue positions ■ Endorsements, political polls, trusted individuals EMILY CHARLENE © 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2 political socialization - a complex process through which individuals become aware of politics , learn political facts, and form political values. (develop a party attachment, nature vs. nurture) we learn these things and they occur throughout our lives (socialization) - generational effects, life cycle effects, period effects generational effects - specific age group uniquely affected by set of historical events (ex. vietnam and great depression) life cycle effects - political views are influenced by maturation (ex. young people are less politically engaged) period effects - historical events affect everyone (ex. 9/11) agents of socialization - family, community and peers, school, mass media family - *strongest influence on individuals -you learn partisan identification from your parents -you can't ask people directly what their party is, but you can ask them what party their parents are (strongest predictor) community and peers - have a powerful influence, even into adulthood - the idea of peer pressure -- we live in certain neighborhoods, churches, groups EMILY CHARLENE © 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3 school - teaches you importance of voting, civic education, being a good citizen, patriotism, authority figures; teaches you respect for existing social orders - doesn't always teach you the same things family does mass media - can have an influence due to opinions that are found in pop culture/ music our behavior may be based on our _______. - biology how do we know what public opinion is? - we have to guess, but now we do polls the statistical theory of sampling - a sample of individuals selected by chance from any population is representative of that population what determines the accuracy of a poll? - the way the sample is selected, the size of the sample, the way the survey is put together question wording - ○ Survey responses on "welfare" vs. "assisting the poor" ○ Leading questions → respondents are led to select on a particular position; other responses are set-up to seem undesirable or wrong ○ Social desirability ○ Question clarity ○ Double-barreled question ○ Question require knowledge the person doesn't have EMILY CHARLENE © 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4 question ordering - survey responses on question about whether reporters should be able to report the news from other countries as they see fit push polls - not actually polls; poses as a survey designed to implant negative information about an opponent in voters' minds exit polls - is taken immediately after voters have exited the polling stations; conduct exit polls to gain an early indication as to how the election will turn out likely voters - the group of individuals estimated who are most likely to vote; age eligible voter only show for about 50% bandwagon affect - you watch a poll, see the results, and the leading opinion guides your decision underdog affect - you vote for someone who doesn't seem like they'll win polls affect candidates and politicians - if the public opinion is strongly for or against an issue, it causes the candidate/ politician to think/ act differently polls affect media coverage - media tends to cover politics as a "sporting event" -- who is winning, who is coming close, etc. polls affect election results - in close elections, more people vote CLASS SURVEY: what did it show? - ● Students identify themselves as more Republican and Conservative than Democrat and Lib