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149 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Which of the following factors has the greatest effect on political socialization?
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The family
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The father of public opinion polling was
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George Gallup
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Most public opinion polls are conducted
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By telephone
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According to a public opinion poll from December, 2008, 30% of likely voters approved of the job George W. Bush was doing as president. This poll had a sampling error or margin of error of 3%. This means that
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George W. Bush's approval among the population is probably between 27% and 33%.
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Why did the Literary Digest poll incorrectly predict the outcome of the 1936 presidential election?
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Because the magazine used an unrepresentative sample.
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Soon after the polls close on Election Day, the media often predicts the outcome of the election. These predictions are based most heavily on
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exit polls
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Which of the following best summarizes Americans' knowledge of politics?
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Most Americans are not very knowledgeable about politics.
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Which of the following best describes the trend in political trust since 1960?
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Political trust has generally been declining, although there was a brief increase after September 11, 2001.
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A liberal would be most likely to support
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expanded social programs for the disadvantaged.
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A conservative would be most likely to support
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military engagement
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What happened to George W. Bush's job approval ratings immediately after September 11, 2001?
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They skyrocketed
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Which of the following high school students is most likely to be a Democrat?
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Someone whose mother and father are Democrats.
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The process by which citizens learn about politics and formulate their political attitudes and beliefs is known as political
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socialization
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When are exit polls conducted?
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On Election Day
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The best way to help ensure that the results of a public opinion poll are accurate is to
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use a random sample
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A method of selecting those who will be interviewed for a poll that gives each person in the population the same probability of being chosen is called
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random sampling
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A poll where campaigns call citizens under the guise of conducting a public opinion poll and provide misleading information in order to win more votes for their candidate is called?
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push polling
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Political socialization in elementary schools often instills
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patriotism
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Women holding very different political opinions than men is called
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the gender gap
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Americans are most likely to describe their political ideology as
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moderate
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Most Americans demonstrate clear and consistent ideological thinking.
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False
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The way a question is worded has almost no impact on the results of a public opinion survey.
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False
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Politicians typically ignore public opinion polls.
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False
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Liberals tend to favor increasing the scope of government.
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True
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The opinions of older Americans are nearly identical to those of younger Americans.
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False
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What is the primary motivator for the media?
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making a profit
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Americans get most of their news from
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television
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Who is most likely to get their political news from talk radio?
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Republicans
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Who is most likely to use the Internet to get political news?
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younger Americans
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How has the advent of cable television affected how citizens receive political information?
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Cable has allowed viewers to select news programs that are slanted towards their ideological beliefs.
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Officeholders and candidates often try to influence media coverage by issuing
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press releases
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National press coverage of politics tends to focus on
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the president
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How frequently did George W. Bush hold formal press conferences?
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seldom
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Which of the following is a direct consequence of investigative journalism?
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Richard Nixon's resignation
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Most journalists are
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liberal
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Most media outlets are
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owned by big corporations
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Why does the Federal Communication Commission regulate broadcast television but not cable television?
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Broadcast television uses public airwaves.
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What kind of news coverage faces the most government restrictions?
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Wartime coverage on the battlefield.
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Which president used the radio most effectively?
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
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U.S. news programs are least likely to cover
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news from other parts of the world.
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Which constitutional amendment guarantees freedom of the press?
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First Amendment
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Which of the following best describes the recent trend regarding newspapers?
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The readership of newspapers has been declining
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Candidates and officeholders release private information to the media by
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leaking information to the press.
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How is the news media most clearly biased?
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The news media has a bias toward getting a good story.
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Media coverage of elections tends to focus on
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the competition between the candidates.
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The media plays an agenda-setting role
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True
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Americans get most of their news from reading newspapers.
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False
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Campaigns try to avoid media coverage.
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False
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There are more government restrictions for broadcast television than for cable.
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True
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Talk radio has a conservative bias.
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True
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EMILY’s List is an example of
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a political action committee.
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Who warned of the dangers of factions?
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James Madison
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Those who work to get their preferred public policies enacted by trying to persuade officeholders are known as
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lobbyists
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What are voter guides?
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Flyers or pamphlets handed out by interest groups that provide guidance on how to vote.
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Successful lobbyists are most likely to be
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former officeholders
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Who is most likely to be successful when lobbying Congress?
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A consortium of major oil companies.
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Interest group efforts to get citizens to pressure elected officials are known as
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grassroots lobbying.
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Congressionally sanctioned groups that allow interest groups and corporations to channel money to campaigns are known as
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PACs
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The free rider problem helps explain
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why it is difficult for some interest groups to attract members.
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Which of the following is an example of a collective good (also called a public good)?
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Clean air
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Why is the National Rifle Association more successful than groups in favor of increased regulation of firearms?
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NRA members have more intense feelings about the issue than do those who want increased regulation.
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An iron triangle is a mutually beneficial relationship between
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an interest group, a congressional committee, and a regulatory agency.
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Which of the following is an example of a labor group?
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The AFL-CIO.
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Interest groups can lobby the courts by
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filing amicus curiae briefs.
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Which of the following is a conservative interest group?
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The Christian Coalition.
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Which of the following groups is an advocate for civil liberties?
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The ACLU
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Benefits of belonging to a group that are only available to group members are known as
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selective benefits
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Interest groups attempt to influence
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the executive branch.
state governments. Congress. the courts. all of the above. <-- This is the correct answer |
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Which group advocates for issues important to older Americans?
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AARP
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How might lobbying provide a beneficial service to legislators?
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By providing legislators with information.
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The greatest strength of public interest groups is their vast financial resources.
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True
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Membership in labor unions has been declining for the past thirty years.
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True
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Corporate interests are generally more successful in their lobbying efforts than public interests.
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True
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Political action committees attempt to influence elections by donating money to candidates.
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False
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What is the result of a people's core beliefs taken together?
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Taken together, they make up the political culture.
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Substantial evidence shows that a majority of adult Americans have abandoned the political party of their parents.
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False
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Political socialization takes place
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throughout the course of a lifetime.
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The instruments by which beliefs and attitudes are conveyed to individuals in society are known as
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agents of socialization
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Which of these groups tends to identify itself more with Democrats than Republicans?
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All of the groups listed above tend to describe themselves as Democrats in greater numbers than as Republicans.
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Which of the following reasons best accounts for Hispanics having a relatively low level of political participation?
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Hispanics have historically had less facility with English and, therefore, register to vote in low numbers.
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What is the main reason why people use party labels?
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to help organize their thinking about politics
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Fears about the quality and stability of public opinion in the United States are
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exaggerated
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When people who consider themselves Republican are more likely to vote for Republican candidates, it's known as
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party identification
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Evidence suggests that partisan politics is becoming
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more pronounced
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What are the people who put more emphasis on economic liberty as well as freedom from government interference called?
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economic conservatives
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Which of the following statements is true concerning the difference between liberalism and conservatism?
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Economic liberty is stressed by conservatives, while equality of opportunity is stressed by liberals.
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An economic conservative is likely also to be
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a social conservative
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Most Americans strongly believe in freedom, economic liberty, capitalism, equality of opportunity, and democracy, but they disagree
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about the role of government in these issues
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African American and white political opinions are the most divergent on issues of
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affirmative action
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Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning a recent trend in U.S. public opinion?
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Public opinion has grown more supportive of civil rights and civil liberties.
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Unilateralists believe that
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the United States should act only in its own interests without seeking the approval or help of international organizations.
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Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between public opinion and public policy in the United States?
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Public opinion is a significant factor affecting the formation of policy.
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According to democratic theory, one of the chief determinants of what governments do should be citizens'
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public opinion
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Public opinion tends to have the greatest impact on government policy when
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there has been a lot of political conflict about the issue.
people can subject the issue to a "reality check." the issue directly affects Americans' lives. people have access to reliable information about the issue. All of the above. <-- Correct answer |
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When does public opinion seem to matter the most in setting government policy?
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when issues are highly visible to the public
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What are used as the basis for election-night "who won" announcements, made well before all of the ballots have been counted?
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exit polls
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One consistent finding from opinion polls is that Americans do not know or care a lot about politics.
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true
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Long-term trust in the federal government to do the right thing is much higher than it was in the 1950s and 1960s.
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False
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The evidence shows that when collective public opinion does change, it does so for perfectly understandable reasons: dramatic events, new information, or changes in perspective among American leaders.
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True
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When the news media dig up facts and warn the public about corrupt public officials, the media are playing which of the following roles?
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acting as a watchdog
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Why is it a problem for democracy that fewer people are getting their news from newspapers?
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Newspapers offer the most comprehensive political coverage.
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Mutually beneficial relationships tend to develop between government officials and reporters because reporters need access and information while officials want favorable publicity.
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True
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The experts and commentators featured in the media reflect a broad spectrum of opinion.
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False
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The owners and top managers of most media corporations tend to be conservative and Republican.
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True
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Why is it important that the commentators or experts chosen are often ex-officials?
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Their ideas are usually supportive of the political currents of the day.
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Which of the following statements describes a tendency in the American news media?
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The media tend to run stories generally approving of our American-style capitalist economic system and disapproving of variants or alternative systems.
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Media corporations are in business to
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make a profit
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Which of these is NOT a concern about the effects of corporate ownership and increased media concentration on the news?
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a lack of efficiency and a decrease in the output and availability of information
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All of the following statements about infotainment is true except which of the following?
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Infotainment does a better job of informing Americans about politics than other types of news.
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The heavy reliance on official sources means that government officials may often be able to control, to a large extent,
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What journalists report and how they report it
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Investigative reporting, which Bernstein and Woodward did on Watergate, is rare because
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It is time-consuming and expensive
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What is a newspaper or television reporter's work usually organized around?
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a particular beat
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Why couldn't the U.S. government control the news coming out of Iraq in 2003, such as the number of military and civilian casualties, along with the news of the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other prisons?
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There were too many journalists and news organizations from around the world reporting, along with too many American soldiers and Iraqi civilians posting what they were seeing and experiencing to weblogs.
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Why does the public often find it difficult to form opinions about U.S. foreign policy?
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Media coverage of foreign events is limited and episodic.
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Even though the fairness doctrine required licensees to present contrasting viewpoints on an issue, what kind of viewpoint was never allowed "equal time?"
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Communist
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University journalism schools teach
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objective journalism
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Which of these is NOT a characteristic of the news on television?
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it tends to be dispassionate
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The news media has consistently portrayed the state of crime in the United States accurately.
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False
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The topics that get the most coverage in the media are the ones
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that the majority of the people tell pollsters are the most important problems facing the country.
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When the news media influences what people consider important, it is called
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agenda setting
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Overt censorship of the press has mainly been confined to
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wartime
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What was the reason for the wave of mergers of news media holdings in the 1990s?
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deregulation and the Telecommunications Act
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Which of the following best describes the level of government regulation of the media in the United States?
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There is not much government regulation.
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What do many commentators believe is the outcome of the adversarial-attack and infotainment styles of political reporting?
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political cynicism
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What is the definition of an interest group?
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a private organization that tries to shape public policy
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Interest groups are sometimes called
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pressure groups
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The term James Madison used for groups or parties that try to advance their own interests at the expense of the public good is
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factions
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In a free society diverse interests usually take organizational forms.
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true
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Which of the following statements is NOT true?
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Public interests include business, agriculture, labor, and the professions.
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What enables smaller professional groups such as the AMA and the ADA to wield great power in Washington?
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the prominent position of its members in the community and their ability to make large campaign contributions
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What type of interest group is the League of Latin Citizens?
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an advocacy group
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Which group no longer endorses particular candidates who are running for office because it is risky for the group if the other candidate wins?
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In spite of the risks, it is still fairly common for all of these groups to make such endorsements.
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An interest group that tries to gain advantages or protections for its own members, predominantly economic groups, is called
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a private interest association
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What is the former occupation of many of the most successful lobbyists?
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former members of the government
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Appropriating money for a specific purpose, usually at the behest of a lobbyist is known as
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ear-marking
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All of these are ways of mobilizing interest group members EXCEPT
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having lobbyists "buttonhole" a member of Congress.
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What is one of the central features of new-style lobbying?
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educating the public on issues that are important to the interest group
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Which of the following statements best describes what is known as the "outside game"?
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interest group activity in which public support is identified, created, mobilized, and brought to bear on policy makers in government
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Why is the grading of Congress by interest groups considered accurate?
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Even though scores may differ between groups, each interest group doing the scoring is clear about what it stands for.
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Due to the make-up of contributors and members of advocacy groups, which is NOT a focus of most of their lobbying?
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income inequality
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Who is allowed to create political action committees?
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advocacy groups
business firms interest groups labor unions All of the above are correct. <--Correct answer |
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Why did PACs decline in scale in the early 2000s?
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due to the increase of the use of soft money
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What was once used to support party-building but is now banned?
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soft money
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What was the purpose of the McCain-Feingold bill?
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to put limits on the use of soft money
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In what way are the largest corporations NOT ahead of their competitors in terms of their ability to shape public policy?
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They are never affected by scandals or economic downturns.
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Corporations are most powerful when
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they can build alliances among themselves.
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What was the result of the passage of the Lobby Disclosure Act of 1995?
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A wider-than-before group of political actors were required to register as lobbyists and had to report every six months on which policies they were trying to influence and how much money they were spending.
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Corporations have a privileged position in American politics in spite of Americans' general distrust and dislike of private enterprise.
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False
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Very few members of the drug industry's registered lobbyists are former members of Congress, former congressional staffers, or former employees of the executive branch.
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False
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