Download Test #3 – Public Opinion/Socialization/Interest Groups

Test #3 – Public Opinion-Socialization/Interest Groups/Political Parties
1. The aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of the adult population is
called
a. public compromise.
b. a mandate.
c. survey data.
d. unanimous consent.
e. public opinion.
2. Private opinion becomes public opinion when
a. that opinion, regardless of its subject matter, is publicly expressed.
b. it is publicly expressed and concerns public issues.
c. an individual is polled by a major polling organization.
d. it is not divided.
e. it is articulated to at least ten other people.
3. The process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes is called
a. opinion leadership.
b. political socialization.
c. agenda setting.
d. peer grouping.
e. consensus building.
4. The transmission of political values
a. is less likely to occur from children to parents.
b. is less likely to occur from parents to children.
c. is just as likely to occur from children to parents as it is to occur from parents to children.
d. is exceptionally rare in families.
e. never occurs from children to parents.
5. Generally, the more education a person receives, the more likely it is that the person will
a. opt out of the political process.
b. be interested in politics.
c. be misinformed about political issues.
d. vote only in national elections.
e. look to his or her children for information on political issues.
6. Political attitudes are more likely to be shaped by peer groups when
a. people are over the age of fifty.
b. it is not an election year.
c. people within the peer group do not have strong party identification.
d. the peer groups are involved directly in political activities.
e. members of the peer group are all of the same gender.
7. An opinion leader is
a. one who is able to influence the opinions of others because of position, expertise, or
personality.
b. a pollster.
c. always someone whose job is to sway public opinion, such as a member of Congress.
d. a public relations expert.
e. someone who relies on position or expertise, rather than something like personality.
8. Determining which public policy questions will be debated or considered is a process known as
a. roll call.
b. subconscious influence.
c. lobbying.
d. media dominance.
e. agenda setting.
9. Many people contend that the media’s influence on public opinion
a. has remained constant.
b. is decreasing.
c. has grown to equal the influence of the family.
d. is negligible.
e. is not, nor has it ever been, a significant factor.
10. New forms of media
a. have decreased the polarization that characterizes American politics.
b. are all Internet-based.
c. were made possible by the enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine.
d. include talk radio and cable television.
e. are all equally influential.
11. Which of the following is TRUE regarding political socialization?
a. Older Americans tend to be more liberal than younger Americans.
b. The experience of marriage and raising a family has a measurable liberalizing effect.
c. A more important factor than age is the impact of momentous political events that shape
the political attitudes of an entire generation.
d. Voters who grew up during the Great Depression were likely to form lifelong attachments
to the Republican Party.
e. The years of economic prosperity under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s led many young
people to identify with the Democratic Party.
12. The generational effect in politics refers to
a. the way in which political socialization produces opinions.
b. the increased tension between the two major political parties.
c. the tendency for persons to become more conservative as they grow older.
d. the long-lasting effect of the events of a particular time on the political opinions of those
who came of age at that time.
e. the way in which the family influences voting.
13. Recently, having more than a bachelor’s degree
a. is associated with a greater tendency to vote for Republicans.
b. is associated with a greater tendency to vote for Democrats.
c. is associated with a greater tendency to vote for Independents.
d. has no influence on voting behavior.
e. is associated with a greater tendency to abstain from voting.
14. Those with high incomes tend to
a. lean toward the left.
b. vote Democratic.
c. favor government action to promote economic equality .
d. oppose government intervention in the economy.
e. favor government action to benefit the poor.
15. Which of the following groups are more likely to vote Republican?
a. factory workers
b. union members
c. small-business owners
d. attorneys
e. college instructors
16. Jewish voters are notably
a. more likely to vote for candidates that are politically conservative.
b. more liberal than members of other groups on cultural issues, but more conservative on
economic issues.
c. focused almost totally on domestic issues.
d. more liberal than members of other groups on both economic and cultural issues.
e. similar to the overall population in their political preferences.
17. In recent years, Protestants and Catholics have
a. both become more likely to abstain from voting.
b. both become more likely to vote Democratic.
c. moved toward Jewish voters politically.
d. moved farther apart from each other politically.
e. grown closer to each other politically.
18. African Americans of all religious tendencies have been
a. more likely than Catholics, but less likely than Protestants, to vote Republican.
b. in line with non-African American religious voters with regard to their voting tendencies.
c. evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
d. strongly supportive of Democrats.
e. strongly supportive of Republicans.
19. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
a. The majority of Hispanic Americans vote Democratic.
b. Cuban Americans are usually Republican.
c. Most Asian American groups lean toward the Democrats.
d. A majority of Muslim Americans of Middle Eastern ancestry voted Republican in 2000.
e. African Americans have voted principally for Democrats since the 1880s.
20. The difference between the percentage of women who vote for a particular candidate and the
percentage of men who vote for the candidate is called
a. the feminization of politics.
b. political socialization.
c. the ideology spectrum.
d. an opinion poll.
e. the gender gap.
21. Politically speaking, American women are
a. more likely than men to support capital punishment.
b. less likely than men to be concerned about the environment.
c. more likely than men to support social welfare programs.
d. more likely than men to support interventions abroad.
e. less likely than men to support extending civil rights to gay men and lesbians.
22. Currently, which of the following regions are more supportive of the Republicans than the
Democrats?
a. the West Coast and the Northeast
b. the South and the Northeast
c. the South, the Great Plains, and several of the Rocky Mountain states
d. the Midwest and the West Coast
e. the West Coast, the Great Plains, and several of the Rocky Mountain states
23. People in large cities tend to be
a. evenly split between Republican and Democratic voters.
b. conservative and Republican.
c. liberal but vote Republican.
d. conservative but vote Democratic.
e. liberal and Democratic.
24. A method of systematically questioning a small, selected sample of respondents who are deemed
representative of the total population is
a. sampling error.
b. an opinion poll.
c. a population census.
d. sampling bias.
e. data mining.
25. The principle of randomness in sampling means that
a. every person should have a known chance, and especially an equal chance, of being
sampled.
b. there is no preplanning in the selection process.
c. every person in the target population who is encountered is selected.
d. researchers decide how many persons of certain types they need in the survey.
e. the poll is unscientific.
26. The survey technique where researchers decide how many persons of certain types they need and
then send out interviewers to find the necessary number of those types is
a. quota sampling.
b. random sampling.
c. high-accuracy sampling.
d. snowball sampling.
e. existential sampling.
27. The difference between a sample result and the true result if the entire population had been
interviewed is
a. the generational effect.
b. the socioeconomic effect.
c. interviewer bias.
d. census error.
e. sampling error.
28. Sampling error can generally be controlled by
a. surveying more highly educated respondents.
b. processing survey results in a timely manner.
c. conducting telephone polls.
d. taking a large enough random sample.
e. taking a large enough quota sample.
29. Since the early 1990s, the American public has consistently had more confidence in ____ than in
any other institution that has been surveyed.
a. the military
b. the U.S. Supreme Court
c. the public schools
d. newspapers
e. Congress
30. An interest group is
a. any association of individuals.
b. an organized group of individuals who want to gain control of the government.
c. an organized group of individuals sharing common objectives who actively attempt to
influence policymakers.
d. any organization that requires members to pay dues.
e. an organized group of individuals who support a specific candidate for public office.
31. Lobbyists are best defined as
a. any association of individuals.
b. representatives of one of the two major political parties.
c. organizations or individuals who attempt to influence legislation and the government’s
administrative decisions.
d. members of Congress who challenge the majority position.
e. members of the congressional leadership who are in a position to shape the legislative
agenda in a way that benefits powerful interest groups.
32. A movement that represents the demands of a large segment of the population for political,
economic, or social change is called a
a. radical movement.
b. subversive movement.
c. public movement.
d. popular mandate.
e. social movement.
33. More interest groups are formed to represent ______ interests than any other set of interests.
a. economic
b. social
c. liberal
d. environmental
e. professional
34. “Umbrella groups” represent
a. collections of businesses or other entities.
b. umbrella manufacturers.
c. only small businesses.
d. only manufacturing businesses.
e. only international entities looking to do business with U.S. companies.
35. Which types of interest groups are defined as economic interest groups?
a. business, labor, and public-interest groups
b. labor, agriculture, and single-issue groups.
c. business, labor, and professional organizations.
d. business, labor, and foreign governments.
e. professionals, agriculture, and foreign governments.
36. ______ interest groups have probably been more successful than any other groups in obtaining
subsidies from American taxpayers.
a. Public safety
b. Environmental
c. Professional organization
d. Economic
e. Agricultural
37. Because of the decline in the ______ sector of the economy, national unions are looking to
nontraditional areas for their membership.
a. nonprofit
b. migrant worker
c. agricultural
d. industrial
e. service
38. The American Bar Association and the American Medical Association are examples of
a. interest groups that do not engage in lobbying.
b. interest groups with small memberships (less than 1,000 members).
c. interest groups with relatively little influence.
d. interest groups of professionals.
e. public-interest groups.
39. Some have argued that the system of interest group politics leaves out
a. upper-middle-class Americans.
b. poor Americans.
c. professional workers.
d. public sector workers.
e. the interests of consumers.
40. The Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation are examples of
a. environmental interest groups.
b. economic interest groups.
c. agricultural interest groups.
d. relatively ineffective interest groups.
e. professional interest groups.
41. All of the following statements about public-interest groups are true EXCEPT
a. a variety of lobbying organizations have been formed “in the public interest.”
b. the best-known and perhaps most effective public-interest groups are those founded under
the leadership of consumer activist Ralph Nader.
c. public-interest groups work for issues that will benefit only the narrow interests of a
particular group.
d. public-interest groups are concerned with the overall community.
e. conservative public-interest groups have formed in response to Nader organizations.
42. This is TRUE of single-issue interest groups.
a. They focus on goals to help those people who are not married.
b. They include the Consumer Federation of America, an alliance of nonprofit organizations
interested in consumer protection.
c. They are mostly related to health care.
d. They are narrowly focused with simple and straightforward goals.
e. They are mostly founded by Ralph Nader.
43. The National Right to Life Committee and the National Rifle Association are examples of
a. economic interest groups.
b. single-interest groups.
c. public-interest groups.
d. foreign interest groups.
e. fringe interest groups.
44. When it comes to influencing the U.S. government, foreign governments
a. only engage in lobbying when the nation they are representing is large.
b. frequently hire former members of Congress to promote their positions on Capitol Hill.
c. engage only in official diplomatic processes.
d. are rarely interested in policy debates concerning trade issues.
e. are prohibited by law from attempting to influence U.S. policy.
45. The key to success for interest groups is
a. employing a narrow range of techniques and strategies to promote their policy goals.
b. access to government officials.
c. having a large number of members.
d. having members that are concentrated in one region of the country.
e. focusing on a single issue.
46. Successful interest groups and their representatives try to cultivate long-term relationships with
a. foreign ambassadors.
b. legislators and government officials.
c. federal judges.
d. business leaders.
e. police commissioners and chiefs of police.
47. When an interest group and its lobbyists approach officials personally to present their case, they
are engaging in
a. closed-door negotiations.
b. a breach of trust.
c. illegal fraternizing.
d. indirect techniques.
e. direct techniques.
48. With indirect techniques, an interest group
a. testifies before a Congressional committee.
b. lobbies for legislation its members might not approve of.
c. uses the general public or individual constituents to influence government officials.
d. approaches officials personally in an attempt to influence them.
e. suggests nominations for federal appointments to the executive branch.
49. Title III of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
a. was Congress’ first attempt to control lobbyists and lobbying activities.
b. is also known as the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
c. provided for regulation more than for disclosure.
d. failed to include a definition of “lobbyist.”
e. proved to be very effective.
50. Legislation to reform the regulation of federal lobbying in 1995 resulted in all of the following
EXCEPT
a. lobbyists were forced to register.
b. lobbying efforts had to be disclosed in semiannual reports.
c. the Senate adopted a flat ban on gifts provided by lobbyists.
d. a lobbyist was defined as someone who spent at least 20 percent of his or her time
lobbying Congress, their staffs, or executive-branch officials.
e. the House adopted a flat ban on gifts provided by lobbyists.