Chapter 6 Review

1. Chapter 6 Review

2. Introduction • Public Opinion • The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues • Political Culture • An overall set of values widely shared within a society

3. Studying the Population • Demography • The science of population changes • Census • Every 10 years • Reapportionment • The process of reallocating seats in the House • Minority Majority • Emergence of a non-Caucasian majority by 2045 • White Americans will be outnumbered by the combined minority groups in America

4. The American Melting Pot • US has a long history of immigration • Melting Pot: the mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation • Or salad bowl?

5. Reapportionment • Impact of the Census • After every census, the number of representatives in each state may change • If a state loses population, it can lose representatives • Reapportionment: The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives based on the results of the census

6. Political Socialization • The process through which an individual acquires views on politics • The Process of Political Socialization • The Family • Political leanings of children often mirror their parents’ leanings • The Mass Media • Chief source of information as children age • Generation gap is viewing television news • School • Used by government to socialize young into political culture • Better-educated citizens are more likely to vote and are more knowledgeable about politics and policy.

7. Measuring Public Opinion • How Opinion Polls Are Conducted • Sample: a small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey to be representative of the whole • Random Sampling: the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample • Sampling Error: the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll • Random-digit dialing: polls that are conducted over the telephone.

8. The Role of Polls in American Democracy • Polls help politicians detect public preferences. • Critics say polls make politicians think more about following than leading public • The wording of the questions on opinion polls may affect survey results • Polls may distort election process • Exit Polls: used by the media to predict election day winners • May discourage people from voting • 2000 presidential election in Florida

9. Political Ideologies • Political Ideology: • A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose • Who Are the Liberals and Conservatives? • Gender gap: women tend to be less conservative than men • Ideological variation by religion too

10. What Americans Value: Political Ideologies

11. How Americans Participate in Politics • Political Participation: all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue • Conventional Participation • Voting in elections • Working in campaigns or running for office • Contacting elected officials

12. How Americans Participate in Politics • Protest as Participation • Protest: a form of political participation designed to achieve policy changes through dramatic and unconventional tactics • Civil disobedience: a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences

13. Reapportionment of seats in the House of Representatives occurs • Every four years after a presidential election • When the minority party wins a majority in the House • After every four congressional election years • Every ten years as a result of the census report • When the president requests it through an executive order

14. Which of the following factors has a significant influence over the accuracy of a political poll? • The wording of the questions • The number of people in the sample • The age of the people in the sample • The number of questions asked • The geographic distribution of the people in the sample

15. All of the following influence the way citizens form their political beliefs EXCEPT • Schooling • The family • Religion • The mass media • State of residence

16. One reason that minority groups are more likely to favor liberal policies is that they • Have highly developed political knowledge • Typically pay more in federal income taxes • Have benefited from federal social programs in the past • Have a greater distrust of government • Usually belong to a high socioeconomic class

17. Conservatives are likely to endorse all of the following EXCEPT • The right to life • Tax cuts • Deregulation of the economic sector • Welfare programs • Defense spending

18. Politicians usually pay attention to public opinion as reported in polls in order to • Decide whether to change party affiliation • Shape their platform for the next election • Form coalitions in Congress • Know if they should run for reelection • Solicit campaign contributions

19. According to the prediction of the gender gap, women are more likely to • Vote for a Democratic candidate • Support military spending • Vote for an Independent candidate • Disapprove of increased social spending • Vote for a Republican candidate

20. Senior citizens are the most politically active age group of Americans for which of the following reasons? • They have more experiences from which to form their political beliefs and reinforce their ideology • They have more disposable income with which they can influence politicians through campaign contributions • They are the largest age group, and therefore they form a majority • Enrollment programs such as Social Security require recipients to vote I only III only I and III only II and IV only II, III and IV only

21. Which of the following would occur if a minority majority developed in the electorate? • Hispanic Americans would outnumber African Americans • Female conservatives would outnumber male conservatives • Asian Americans would outnumber Hispanic Americans • Voters under the age of 30 would outnumber senior citizens • The minority population would outnumber the Caucasian population

22. Young Americans are the least politically active group for all of the following reasons EXCEPT • They have little political experience • They are not likely to watch the news or read newspapers • They have been taught to distrust the government • They have not developed a sense of what they need from government • They have not witnessed the impact of governmental policies