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What is public opinion?

Attitudes that citizens had about political issues, even and people

What is political ideology?

a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about government/ offers a negative view of the present and a positive view of the future

What causes differences in political differences?

political socialization, gender gap, liberal v conservatives

What manipulates public opinion?

Public opinion polls,

True or False: Ideologies are always mass directed and uses simple language


What determines ideology?

the demographics (race, religion, economics, profession, region

Who supports social welfare?

the poor

What is the purpose of political ideologies in government?

survive and repoduce

What shapes people's values?

family, media, school, social groups (religious groups)

Which aspect of people's lives influence their political views and values the most?


True or False: Men are more likely to support social welfare


What are liberal's general view of people?

people are generally rational/ want to help you to be all that you can be

What are conservatives' general view of people?

people are inherently bad and need intervention (keep govt out)

What did the Depression encourage?

government intervention- public works

True or False: Conservatives like the idea of Medicare for all


True or False: Republicans and Democrats will say whatever they can to get the support of the people


What are the conservatives view on shaping behavior?

Stronger institutes shape behavior

True or False: Conservatives are people of appetite and they tend to be emotional based.


What is the famous quote that associates with conservative view?

"If ain't broke don't fix it" "it ain't broke"

Famous quote that associates with liberal's view?

"If its broke, fix it, it's always broke"

True or False: Liberals tend to favor to side with the people


What is the political view of most Americans?

middle of the road (polarized), which means they sway conservative or liberal with each issue

True or False: a single poll result can be meaningful

False: a single poll result is virtually meaningless

What is the Enthusiasm Gap?

When one party is not in public opinion's favor and the opposing side becomes enthusiastic for the upcoming election, whereas the current party is less than enthusiastic
(example republican and tea party joined forces to do more, Obama not thriving in public praise)

When looking at a poll, what should you look at to ensure its validity of the results?

representative sample, how big is the sample, who what when, margin of error

True or False: A margin of error of +/- 4 is valid

False less than 3 makes it valid, anything above that is invalid

What is selection bias?

when polling asks a certain group of people to get the results they want/ make adjustments to get the poll to do what they want them to do

What were Mark Twain's 3 Truths concerning govt?

1)lie 2) d. lies 3) statistics

What is push polling?

structures the question to get the results they want

Which president went against bad polling and went on a whistle train voyage to improve his reputation?

President Truman

Which president relied on polls too much that the press actually announced him president before looking at the voting results and discovered he didn't win?

President Dewey

What are forms of media?

newspaper, radio, tv, internet, magazines, newsletters, books, billboards

What are the forms that reach the public the most?

newspaper, radio, tv, and internet

Back in the day who owned the media?

it was locally owned

Who owns the media today?

big institutions like: Comcast, Disney or rich entrepreneurs.

What form of media is most used, but gives the least information?


Why is radio and headline news so repetitive?

so everyone is able to listen or see it when they tune in/ radio- most people listen to it when they are in the car, people are not in the car more than 30 minutes, so it is a drop in drop out media

Which group is most popular on talk radio?

Conservatives (Glenn Beck) ... why? older viewers listen to radio (many older viewers are conservatives)

What are the main benefits of on-line news coverage?

instant access, immediacy, cheap

Describe the relationship between government and media?

FFCC- regulates offensive material tv and radio

What is the equal-time rule?

look it up

Which demographic is the news media most responsive to?

higher income, education, men, older
(they are the ones that are involved), they are the ones the news appeals to in tv

What is democracy based on, which is enabled by many media?


Why are newspapers and magazines going broke?

internet and television have become increasingly popular as it provides free coverage of news

Although its availability is a plus, what is the primary weakness of internet news?

The validity of it, the site may not contain true news

What kind of control does government have on media?

billboard, internet, and newspaper regulative (
prior restraint- stop before releasing news)

True or False: Supreme Court ruled money is speech is unconstitutional


What have large news conglomerates have lead to?

to the homogenization of news

What are sound bites?

small clips that the news uses to convey an idea (often taken out of context to attract viewers) / photo op's are also a form of sound bites

What are news leaks?

political anonymously leak high level ino/ discolor of confedential material to news media

What is agenda setting?

news media has the power to bring attention to certain issues that might not be on the top, but make on the top


is how media sets up a particular issue/ power to influence interpretation


sources of media power- preparing a public of a particular person (setting an image)

advantage of media for politicians?

go directly to public

What explains various levels of political participation?


Why has it declined over time?


True or False: American people have a nationalization of political views/ we see politics in the same general way


Conservative type of news?

narrowed minded,( more emotional and angrier) type news generally

Blogs are what type of political media?

commentary- you get support on what you believe f for a specific topic

What quotes are the determining factor for what media views as news worthy?

"dog bites man"- no news
"man bites dog"- news

Why do politicians leak information to reporters?

to cultivate a relationship with them, so they have pull with them in reelections or take make them look good in public's eyes

What happens after a few legible leaks that the politicians gives to the reporters after they ensure an understood agreement with them?

they begin to give them falsehoods

What is an informed citizen capable of?

understanding the needs in his society

What impact does media have on voting?

spins stories or concentrates on a particular candidate or emphasizes the weakness of a candidate

What are protests categorized in media?


What is the purpose of most protest?

to simply obtain information from the media.

a neutral frame?

shows the truth( both sides to the story)

What are some forms of political participation?

lobbying, voting, litigation, giving money to candidate, protest, fun for office, putting up a sign

What is the most direct and effective way of political participation?


What explained the generally low level of voter turnout?

people forget to register/ they don't care, campaigns are long and people tend to grow tired of them/ don't think they can make a difference politically

True or False: Factors vary due to levels of participation among various demographics


What were some ways that early voting polls prevented blacks to vote?

poll taxes, literacy tests, resident requirements, grandfather clause

What is the most recent group of people that were allowed to vote?

18-21 age group, " if i'm old enough fight, why can't i vote?"

Which group tends to vote more and which tends to vote less?

higher econ/ higher education- vote higher
lower econ/ lower education- vote lower

What racial background votes the highest?

whites, but latino with the high income level is the same number as whites with high income

True or False: Class trunks race


Which group is increasing more each year in voting?


What do women tend to be?


Approximately what percentage of eligible American voters have voted in recent presidential elections?


What is the main difference between voting and lobbying?

Unlike voting, lobbying involves an attempt to directly influence a government

Litigation is a form of participation in which people do what?

file lawsuits in order to change public policies.

What is a poll tax?

a tax on polls that prevent blacks from voting

Non-electoral forms of participation usual require more______ than voting

time, money and effort

What bloc of voters has recently been called the "sleeping giant"?


The political power of Asian Americans has recently been hindered because of the

diversity of national backgrounds and cultures.

What was the Supreme Court case that ruled prayers in public school unconstitutional?

Engel v. Vitale

The power of the Christian Coalition in the 1990's in the 1990's was due to (its ability to do what)?

its success in mobilizing a large grassroots base.

Participation in politics depends on what factors?


what tendency of Americans did the nineteenth century writer Alexis de Tocqueville identify as distinctive of our democratic culture?

tendency to protest policies through riots and other forms of violence

A political _____ is the process by which large numbers of people are organized for political action.


a political institution can be best defined as

any organization that connects people to politics

the socioeconomic status model explains political participation by examining an individuals (What)?

level of education, income, and occupational status.

the strongest critique of the socioeconomic status model for explaining political participation is that?

education levels are rising while rates of participation are falling.

James Madison and other framers of the Constitution thought that____ would always be the most important source of conflict in political life

inherent gulf between the rich and poor

The _________ are among the most powerful forces operating in the marketplace of ideas.

communication media

One major difference b/w college graduated and other Americans can be seen in levels of

political participation; college graduated participate more in politics than Americans with less education

People's underlying beliefs and ideologies

color their perceptions so that often make make automatic judgement on particular issues

What error is present in this poll question: " Do you think it was appropriate for President Bush to lie to get us into war with Iraq?"

push polling

The processes through which underlying political beliefs and values are formed are collectively called

political socialization

Recent studies by political scientists have shown

the average American exhibits knowledge of political institutions, processes or leaders

How did the framers of the Constitution affect the power of public opinion on government policy?

by creating a system that did not let popular opinion translate into public policies

The practice of push polling involves

the technique of asking loaded questions in order to subtly shape the respondent's opinion.

What is the likely cause for the differences of opinion of African- Americans and white American concerning the OJ Simpson trial?

black and whites have different perspectives and experiences with the criminal justice system

"The south's move from the Democratic to the Republican camp took place because of white southern opposition to the Democratic Party's racial policies."

how politics conditions affect political beliefs.

The ability of the government to shape public opinion is

limited by other sources of information

College graduates are

are more likely to participate in politics

In many respects schooling in the US

helps determines a person's success, a great equalizer, teaches children a common set of civic values

According to the text, which type of equality is most prominent in the US?

Equality of opportunity

An examples of social groups

females, labor unions, political parties

People are more likely to change their opinions when they are

don't have any strong feelings about the issue

Although political color our political perspectives, they seldom fully determine our views. Why?

most people have at least some conflicating underlying attitudes/ individuals may have difficulty linking particular issues of personalities to their own underlying beliefs/ most individuals' ideologies contain internal contradictions

Which variables is likely to affect public opinion?

race, income, education

Who support the social/political status quo and who is suspicious of govt. regulation of business, favors govt involvement in social issues and believe the govt should promote prayer in school

a conservative

who supports political and social change, government intervention in economy and expansion of federal social services, mistrusts the government involvement in personal issues, such as to tell how or when children should pray

a liberal

The ______ is the interplay of opinions and views that takes placed as competing forces attempt to persuade as many people as possible to accept a particular position on a particular event

marketplace of ideas

What is the gender gap?

Political difference b/w men and women

What can contribute to a lack of consistency between opinion and governmental policy?

a committed minority that can override the viewpoint of the majority

______ are scientific instruments for measuring public opinion

public opinion polls

a public opinion sample must

be representative

term used to denote the beliefs that people have issues, events, and personalities is

public opinion

_________ is the ability to influence govt. and politics

politcal efficacy

set of underlying orientations, ideas, and beliefs through which individuals come to understand and interpret politics is called

public opinion

What mechanism is currently used by many states to allow public opinion to directly control policy?

initiatice and referendum

On average, Americans knowledge of politics

very low

impression conveyed by polls that something is important to the public when it actually is known as the

illusion of saliency

government actions are _____ with citizen's preferences


What is not important agent of socialization?


The FFC requires broadcasters to provide individuals the right to respond to personal attacks, which is known as the

right of rebuttal

What percentage of young people cite the Internet as their main source of news?


Today most publishers

are business people and are more concerned with business operation than editorial content

What is federally licensed media outlet?

The NBC network

The process by which a relatively similar picture of events, issues, and problems are presented to the entire nation is referred to as

nationalization of the news

According to the text, what must Americans tolerate to guarantee the maintenance of a democratic society?

the media will occasionally abuse their power

What factors influences the interpretation a news story receives from the media?

audiences of the news, journalist and producers, the sources or topics of the news

What event do authors not use to illustrate the power of the media in US politics?

savings and loan scandal

According to the authors, which media outlet tended to cover international news most thoroughly?

Times of London

Although they represent only a small percentage of the population, individuals under the age 50 whose family income is in the 80th percentile or better account for the nearly 50 % of the retail dollars spent on consumer goods in the US." this supports

print and broadcast media cater to the preferences of consumers/ media cater to the upscale segment of their audience/ the media attempt to understand the tastes and preferences of consumers

The new liberal network Air American Radio was created in order to

combat conservative dominance of talk radio

The decline of party organization since the 1970's has increased the dependence that politicians have on

the media

most of news on the internet is

electronic versions of what is already in print

In 2004 Democratic primary, Al Sharpton's efforts to force the issue of poverty the level of a major issue

did not succeed because the journalists did not consider it to be a major issue

Slate magazine, ActBlue, and Facebook illustrate

The growing influence of the internet in american media

what happened to the adversarial relationship b.w the press and the govt. in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks?

the media openly supported the Bush administration in the aftermath of the attacks but has recently begun to criticize P. Bush's approach to Iraq

Media frenzy over the Monica Lewinsky scandal is evidence that

the media's bias is more oriented to entertainment than ideology

Broadcaster must provide candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages to the public. this is the

equal time rule

FCC's fairness doctrine

is no loner in effect

media has become

more partisan, more ideological, more diverse

the US there are only 3 truly national newspapers, which is not

the Washington post

why did howard stern move to satellite radio?

it isn't regulated by the FCC

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