Public Opinion #3
1) Only rarely, argues the text, does the general public have which of the following?
a) A dominant opinion on an issue
b) A chance to learn and examine the facts about an issue
c) The opportunity to obtain formal power
d) Problems with official decisions on issues
2) The preamble to the U.S. Constitution lists all of the following goals of government except
a) Union.
b) Justice.
c) Liberty.
d) Democracy.
3) One reason why public policy often differs from public opinion is that
a) The U.S. Constitution places many checks on the influence of public opinion.
b) Public opinion polling tends to express the opinions of a political elite.
c) While public opinion is easy to gauge, public policy is not.
d) Public opinion tends to change much more slowly than public policy.
4) One reason why public policy often differs from public opinion is that
a) Public opinion polling is not always accurate.
b) Public opinion polling tends to express the opinions of a political elite.
c) Public opinion is easier to gauge than public policy.
d) Public opinion tends to be more stable than public policy.
5) The validity of public opinion polls may be affected by several factors, including
a) Poll overrepresentation of the views of a political elite.
b) The fact that public opinion tends to be relatively stable over time.
c) The public’s general ignorance of political issues.
d) Poll overrepresentation of political culture factors such as liberty and civic duty.
6) The validity of public opinion polls may be affected by several factors, including
a) Poll overrepresentation of the views of a political elite.
b) The fact that public opinion tends to be relatively stable over time.
c) The wording of questions on a poll.
d) Poll overrepresentation of political culture factors such as liberty and civic duty.
7) How often does the public as a whole have an opinion on a particular issue?
a) All of the time
b) Only rarely
c) Most of the time
d) As often as not
8) The validity of public opinion polls may be affected by several factors, including
a) Poll overrepresentation of the views of a political elite.
b) The fact that public opinion tends to be relatively stable over time.
c) Rapid shifts in public opinion.
d) Poll overrepresentation of political culture factors such as liberty and civic duty.
9) Some 60 percent of adults adopt the party preference of their
a) Peers.
b) Employers.
c) Teachers.
d) Parents.
10) Young people are most inclined to agree with their parents on the issue of
a) Political efficacy.
b) Party identification.
c) Policy preferences.
d) Civil liberties.
11) In adulthood, people claim the party identification learned from their parents about ______percent of the time.
a) 90
b) 60
c) 30
d) 10
12) A man who differs with his father on party identification is most likely to
a) Strongly identify with the opposite party, Democrat or Republican.
b) Describe himself as an independent.
c) Have no political interests of any kind.
d) Loosely identify with the opposite party, Democrat or Republican.
13) In recent years, the ability of the family to promote a partisan identification has
a) Stayed about the same.
b) Declined, then risen.
c) Risen.
d) Declined.
14) The transference of political beliefs from parent to child is most likely to take place in what type of family?
a) One in which the parents have different party identifications
b) One in which the parents’ political views are strongly held
c) One in which the parents purposely downplay the importance of politics in everyday life
d) One in which the parents call themselves independents
15) White Protestants are the group least likely to display which of the following?
a) Racial prejudice
b) Mistrust of government
c) Conservative attitudes
d) Liberal attitudes
16) Liberal preferences on various policy issues are displayed least often by
a) Jews.
b) White Protestants.
c) Blacks.
d) White Catholics.
17) Which religious group is most likely to have liberal political attitudes?
a) Jews
b) Protestants
c) Catholics
d) No significant difference exists among these three groups.
18) Different immigrant experiences seem to have led religious groups in the United States to have different
a) Degrees of political trust.
b) Political ideologies.
c) Theological doctrines.
d) Degrees of religious assimilation.
19) The political orientations of religious groups in the United States seem to relate most closely to
a) The content of their religious traditions.
b) Their adherents’ experiences as immigrants.
c) Both of the above.
d) Neither of the above.
20) Compared with someone who believes the Bible is God’s word, someone who believes the Bible was not inspired by God would be more likely to favor
a) Equal roles for men and women.
b) Organized prayer in schools.
c) Greater defense spending.
d) A ban on abortion.
21) Compared with someone who believes the Bible was not inspired by God, someone who believes the Bible is God’s word would be more likely to favor
a) A ban on abortion.
b) A ban on school prayer.
c) Equal roles for men and women.
d) A cut in defense spending.
22) A gender gap is most likely to occur in an election in which the major issue is
a) War.
b) Women’s rights.
c) Gun control.
d) Political ethics.
23) Recently, the Democratic party has been the party most likely to benefit from
a) Direct mail contributions.
b) Paid political advertising.
c) The votes of independents.
d) The gender gap.
24) Which of the following statements about the gender gap is the most accurate, according to the text?
a) Men have “deserted” Democratic candidates for Republican ones. The gender gap is also a party gap.
b) The gender gap has remained constant in the past four elections.
c) Women voters tend to identify more strongly than men with the Republican party.
d) Most analysts agree about the electoral significance of the gender gap.
25) Which organization was founded by Pat Robertson in the early 1990s?
a) The Moral Majority
b) Consumer Watch
c) The Christian Coalition
d) People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
26) What effect does attending college have on political attitudes?
a) Students generally become more liberal.
b) Students generally become more conservative.
c) College has only a minimal effect on students’ attitudes.
d) Students’ political attitudes depend on their socioeconomic status.
27) Which of the following students is most likely to be politically conservative?
a) A junior college student
b) A high school student
c) A student at a large state university
d) A student at a small, liberal arts college
28) The clearest liberalizing influence on individuals comes from
a) The Democratic party.
b) The mass media.
c) Higher education.
d) Organized religion.
29) Which of the following students is most likely to be politically liberal?
a) A senior psychology major at an elite, liberal arts college
b) A sophomore physics major at a small state college
c) A freshman engineering major at a large state university
d) A senior at a suburban, Midwestern high school
30) All of the following are correlated with a conservative political ideology except
a) Driving a Buick.
b) Graduating from college.
c) Believing the Bible is the word of God.
d) Having parents who are conservative.
31) Which of the following is not true of college professors?
a) They are more liberal than the population as a whole.
b) Those at prestigious schools are more conservative than those at less prestigious schools.
c) Those in social sciences are more liberal than those in engineering or business.
d) They tend to develop a lifestyle that reveals their political convictions.
32) Why should college professors tend to be more liberal than other professional groups?
a) Because professors are more affluent, and affluence is closely associated with liberalism
b) Because professors tend to come from families with parents who hold strong political beliefs
c) Because intellectuals tend to be more critical of accepted values and existing institutions
d) Because professors tend to come from families with parents who hold strong religious beliefs
33) The term cross-cutting cleavages in public opinion refers to
a) People’s lack of relevant information.
b) Multiple divisions along different principles.
c) Competition among organized interest groups.
d) Issues that tend to divide people by geography.
34) The general pattern of public-opinion cleavages in this country has been
a) Horizontal, based on class.
b) Vertical, based on many variables.
c) Cross-cutting, based on many variables.
d) Impossible to analyze clearly.
35) Cleavages in public opinion are more common in the United States than in many other countries because the United States
a) Has a socially heterogeneous population.
b) Is a relatively classless society.
c) Has a high degree of religious freedom.
d) Places a high value on social equality.
36) Which of the following is NOT a source of cleavage in public opinion?
a) Race and ethnicity
b) Class
c) Religion
d) The family
37) In polling, a random sample is one that
a) Is generated by a computer using complex algorithms.
b) Gives each person an equal chance of being in the sample.
c) Bases its participants on social class.
d) Just happens, with no control by any outside force.
38) Given a sampling error of 3 percent, if 47 percent of respondents say they will vote for a specific candidate, we can infer that
a) Between 44 and 50 percent of the voters will vote for that candidate.
b) The likelihood of 47 percent voting for that candidate is 97 percent.
c) 3 percent of the respondents are falsifying their intentions.
d) That candidate will lose the election narrowly 97 times out of 100.
39) One reason why the results of last-minute polls often differ from the actual results of an election is
a) The use of a large random sample in polling.
b) Stratification in polling.
c) Sampling error in polling.
d) The absence of experimental controls in polling.
40) Today, occupation is less important in explaining political opinions than in the past because
a) Of the changing effects of education.
b) More Americans are middle class.
c) Fewer Americans hold blue-collar jobs.
d) Corporations have less influence over employees’ political views.
41) Which of the following do workers in the United States have far less of than their counterparts in Europe?
a) Income
b) Mobility
c) Class consciousness
d) Trust in government
42) Most workers in Great Britain and France describe themselves as ______, while most workers in the United States describe themselves as ______.
a) Working class, middle class
b) Middle class, working class
c) Proletarian, bourgeoisie
d) Bourgeoisie, proletarian
43) Compared with European countries such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, class voting in the United States has
a) Also risen sharply.
b) Remained relatively steady.
c) Also declined sharply.
d) Always been more common.
44) One great equalizer of socioeconomic class differences in the United States is
a) Religion.
b) Gender.
c) Region.
d) College.
45) An individual’s choice of political philosophy today is most likely to be based on one’s
a) Position on social issues such as abortion or environmentalism.
b) Geographic region and socioeconomic class.
c) Position on economic issues such as taxation or minimum wage.
d) Gender and religious beliefs.
46) Over the past several decades, the influence of race on political attitudes has
a) Become less important.
b) Become more important.
c) Stayed about the same.
d) Increased, then declined.
47) African-Americans are more likely to be
a) Republican.
b) Democrat.
c) Overwhelmingly Democrat.
d) Independent.
48) Whites are more likely to be
a) Republican.
b) Democrat.
c) Overwhelmingly Democrat.
d) Independent.
49) An issue that divides blacks and whites is
a) Affirmative action.
b) The treatment of drug traffickers.
c) Legalized abortion.
d) Legalization of marijuana.
50) African-Americans aged 26 to 35 as opposed to those aged 51 to 64 are more likely to identify themselves as
a) Democrats.
b) Strong Democrats.
c) Republicans.
d) Independents.
51) Majorities of both whites and blacks are opposed to all of the following except
a) Affirmative action.
b) Greater use of the death penalty.
c) Making abortion legal in all cases.
d) The courts getting tougher on criminals.
52) Among the following groups, the group that is most likely to hold political views that are similar to Anglo-whites are
a) Blacks.
b) Hispanics.
c) Asian-Americans.
d) Latinos.
53) Recent data comparing the political views of white Protestants in the South and in other parts of the country show
a) Great differences on economic issues.
b) Very little difference on all issues.
c) Great differences on all issues.
d) Great differences on civil liberties issues.
54) Voters in the South have become progressively less attached to
a) The Democratic Party.
b) The Republican Party.
c) Liberal ideology.
d) Conservative ideology.
55) On which of the following issues is one likely to find the least amount of difference of opinion between northerners and southerners?
a) Right to abortion
b) Homosexual rights
c) Reducing military spending
d) Increasing Social Security
56) Two issues that threatened the traditional coalition between southern and northern Democrats were
a) Race and liberty.
b) Economic policy and personal freedom.
c) States’ rights and tax reform.
d) Social equality and economic equality.
57) Compared with the 1950s, the number of southerners calling themselves Democrats in the 1980s was