� What is meant by the word public opinion?
o Aggregation of individual opinions on issues of concern to the public
� Why, according to the textbook, is public opinion "vital" in a democratic system?
o If a government is designed to follow the preferences of the populace, then there must be some way for regular communication of citizen preferences to their elected leaders
� What did the founding fathers think about public opinion? How did their views about public opinion influence their approach to designing democratic government?
o Knew it was important, but foresaw dangers of popular will
o Created government institutions to blunt "popular passions"; wanted to protect the rights of individuals from the "tyranny of the majority
� What is the difference between values, beliefs, and attitudes? How do values, beliefs, and attitudes shape our opinion on political issues?
o Values - basic set of feelings about what ought to be and how people ought to behave
o Beliefs - propositions about what is true or false; less fundamental to individuals than their values; more specific-policy related
o Attitude - a consistent predispo
� What does it mean to say someone has "low political efficacy"? What is meant by the term "political intolerance"? Why are these two things thought to be "dangerous" for democracy?
o They don't feel like they can make a difference in politics
o Willingness to extend basic rights and civil liberties to persons and groups whose viewpoints differ from your own
o A democracy can't work without an efficacious citizenry to make demands an
� What separates scientific polling from unscientific polling?
o Scientific attempts to measure opinion to ensure that the sample is representative of the population as a whole
o Nonresponse bias
those who response to a survey may hold different opinions from those who do not
o Random sample
sample in which every member of the sampling frame has an equal chance of being selected
o Double-barreled question
a fallacy that occurs when the surveyor asks respondents a question that with more than one issue; leads to answers that are ambiguous and not valid
o Priming
a potential problem in surveys in which a previous question can influence the response to a future question
� How do the four political scientific models of American politics (majoritarianism, elite theory, pluralism, and biased pluralism) conceive of the relationship between public policy and public opinion?
o Majoritarianism - imply a direct link between mass public opinion and policy makers
o Elite/pluralism/biased pluralism - elite-pluralist model; policy process if initiated by activists or members of the power elite (aka "policy initiators"); activities
� What is political socialization? Who (or what) are the different actors that influence political socialization?
o Political socialization - process by which people learn about their political world
o Family, school, one's peer group; class, religion, ethnicity
� How do socioeconomic factors influence our stance on certain issues?
o Social class - people of lower income and education make different demands on government, participate less; upper class more likely to support civil liberties and humanities
o Religion - effect on values and beliefs
o Region - view policies in terms of