Political Ideologies in the U.S.

Questions and Answers

Liberalism and conservatism are examples of?

Political ideologies (correct)

Economic systems

Religious beliefs

Cultural practices

The vast majority of Americans describe themselves as?

Moderate (correct)

None of the above

Liberal (correct)

Conservative (correct)

A liberal would most likely support?

an expansion in governmental social services.

A person's political party preferences are primarily acquired through the influence of?

the person's family. Signup and view all the answers

________ generally support abortion rights and oppose state involvement with religious institutions.

Liberals Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements about the political opinions of Democrats and Republicans in the public is the most accurate?

Differences between the political opinions of Democrats and Republicans are greater today than during any other period in the last 40 years. Signup and view all the answers

Lack of political knowledge and political engagement can lead to increasing political and economic inequality and manipulation by political and wealthy elites, which _____ democracy.

weakens Signup and view all the answers

The fact that Americans today are likely to follow the news by briefly reading multiple headlines online rather than by reading longer news articles is referred to as?

"skimming and scanning." Signup and view all the answers

Priming refers to the?

process of preparing the public to bring specific criteria to mind when evaluating a politician or issue. Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes the relationship between public opinion and government policy?

The relationship between government policy and public opinion is dynamic, wherein government policy responds to public opinion but public opinion also shifts based on new government policies. Signup and view all the answers

Conservative politicians developed and communicated the notion of a fetal 'right to life' in order to?

unite Catholics and Protestants and link their interests to the Republican Party. Signup and view all the answers

What describes the power the media have to influence how Americans think about issues?

Framing = The way information is presented to shape perception. Agenda-setting = Determining which issues are deemed important. Priming = Preparing the public to evaluate politicians based on specific criteria. Selection bias = The bias introduced by the method of selection influencing results. Signup and view all the answers

The fact that survey respondents overreport voting in elections and the frequency of their church attendance is an example of the ________ effect.

social desirability Signup and view all the answers

During the 2000 South Carolina Republican primary, George W. Bush supporters telephoned conservative white voters to ask if they would be more or less likely to vote for John McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child. This was an example of a?

push poll. Signup and view all the answers

In order for a survey to accurately generalize to the entire population, the survey must?

select respondents randomly and everyone in the target population must have an equal chance of being selected. Signup and view all the answers

In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ________ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.

selection bias Signup and view all the answers

How big a sample size is sufficient to have a reasonably accurate poll?

1500 Signup and view all the answers

A(n) ________ is a method used by pollsters to select a representative sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent.

Simple random sample Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes