One advantage of direct contact between elected officials and the public versus the use of public opinion polls is that direct contact ______.
is always more accurate than a poll
makes it less likely that certain public concerns will be overlooked
require

makes it less likely that certain public concerns will be overlooked

In general, which of the following statements is NOT true regarding whether Americans meet the criteria for being considered ideal democratic citizens?
The more informed people are about politics, the more likely they are to be ideologically consistent.
A

Compared with other countries, the United States has quite high voter participation rates.

Which of the following statements concerning the relationship between gender and public opinion is NOT true?
The opinion gap between men and women is particularly large on issues involving violence.
Women now tend to vote at a slightly higher rate than me

Women have become more liberal in the past thirty years.

According to the text, the current process of political socialization in the United States ______.
is the primary function of a college education
teaches us to think independently and critically
teaches us tolerance for the political values of other natio

trains us to support and obey the existing political system

Major political and social events are an important source of socialization. Therefore, all of the following statements are true EXCEPT this one:
Divisive political events can cause trust in government to decline.
Socialization does not exist since people

Socialization does not exist since people learn politics from direct experience.

Which of the following is NOT true regarding polling?
A poll that showed Candidate A with 48 percent of the vote and Candidate B with 45 percent of the vote, with a sampling error of 3 percent, means that we can be 95 percent sure that Candidate A is lead

A poll that showed Candidate A with 48 percent of the vote and Candidate B with 45 percent of the vote, with a sampling error of 3 percent, means that we can be 95 percent sure that Candidate A is leading.

The relationship between sample size and sampling error is ______.
the larger the sample, the smaller the sampling error will be
sampling size and sampling error are related only if the poll contains sampling bias
sampling error and poll size are unrelate

the larger the sample, the smaller the sampling error will be

Internet polls are ______.
highly reliable
unreliable
reliable only if the right types of questions are asked
more reliable than exit polls or tracking polls
reliable if they are conducted by professional pollsters

unreliable

If you are to be a critical watcher of polls, among the issues of concern are all of the following EXCEPT this:
Whether the poll is representative
Whether the poll agrees with your position
How the questions are worded
Who sponsored the poll
What the resu

Whether the poll agrees with your position

Those who favor ______ democracy would be least likely to favor popular votes on national policy issues.
a parliamentary
an elite
a pluralist
a participatory
an equality

an elite

Public opinion not only should matter but also does matter in American politics because ______.
the public pays close attention to public policymaking
the public votes on the basis of well-informed policy views
the media is diligent in keeping the public

politicians and the media act as if it matters

Americans voter turnout for national elections is ______.
consistently in third place among industrialized nations
the lowest, or among the lowest, among industrialized nations
the highest among industrialized nations
about average among industrialized na

the lowest, or among the lowest, among industrialized nations

Of the following, which pair of items concerning socialization is NOT linked properly?
Preschool years and nationalism
Groups and the spiral of silence
School and citizenship
The media and ideological orientation
The media and socialization by major polit

The media and ideological orientation

Which of the following statements concerning the relationship between age and opinions is NOT true?
Groups of citizens of the same age can be shaped by the same political events.
Young people are more likely to be influenced by current political trends.
A

People tend to become more conservative as they age.

When the Chicago Tribune mistakenly declared that Dewey had defeated Truman in the 1948 presidential election, the paper had made the mistake of ______.
relying on a biased sample
relying on a poll conducted by Dewey's election staff
using a poorly worded

not realizing that some people decide who to vote for right up to the day of an election

If you are conducting a horse race poll, you want your sample to comprise ______.
only those who identify with a political party
all those over the age of 18
an overrepresentation of those with more education
likely voters
all American citizens

likely voters

We can conclude from the history of polling that ______.
polls are reliable only when they are timely and have been conducted using the proper procedures
polls were developed for the purpose of manipulating the public
polls are unreliable
politicians love

polls are reliable only when they are timely and have been conducted using the proper procedures

The authors conclude that, in general, the accuracy of election polls is ______.
good in some years but very poor in other years
generally poor
not able to be determined
fair
quite good

quite good

The authors of the textbook argue that Americans behave as ideal citizens as ______, although as ______ they do not.
subjects of public opinion polls; voters
individuals; voters
a group; individuals
individuals; a group
voters; individuals

a group; individuals

A citizen's ability to hold democratic beliefs, including the acceptance that politics is about compromise, is called ______.
democratic virtue
democratic engagement
democratic pragmatism
democratic citizenship
democratic enlightenment

democratic enlightenment

Unscientific polls that are often conducted by newspapers and politicians to determine who is ahead in a political race are called ______ polls.
benchmark
straw
tracking
exit
interest

straw

Which of the following statements concerning sampling bias is NOT true?
Pollsters are often unaware of the problem of sampling bias.
Older women tend to be oversampled, whereas younger men tend to be undersampled.
Changing patterns of telephone technology

Pollsters are often unaware of the problem of sampling bias.

The process by which citizens take their political cues from more well-informed opinion leaders is known as ______.
on-line processing
the two-step flow of information
political socialization
rational ignorance
elite democracy

the two-step flow of information

Regarding the impact of the public in American national decision making, the founders wanted ______.
a system responsive to the fluctuations in public opinion
a system legitimated by the public but also protected from the possible dangers of the public's

a system legitimated by the public but also protected from the possible dangers of the public's power

Which of the following is NOT an argument put forth by the textbook's authors?
The higher the level of education, the more tolerance people tend to demonstrate on surveys.
Some observers argue that elites are the protectors of our democratic values.
There

In many ways, less educated people are more tolerant than educated people.

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the textbook as an agent of socialization?
The Internet
Schools
Social groups
Peers
The family

The Internet

Which of the following statements is NOT true?
Protestants are the only religious group whose members are more likely to be Republicans than Democrats.
Women tend to vote at a higher rate than men.
Rural residents are the only ones among whom a majority f

Blacks are less likely than whites to favor prayer in public schools.

The textbook does NOT argue the following:
The major focus of self-interest is economic well-being.
Self-interest is one of several factors affecting opinions.
Many people express opinions that seem to run counter to concerns over self-interest.
Self-inte

Self-interest is a source of agreement in public opinion.

Benchmark polls ______.
are good ways to track how a candidate is doing throughout the campaign
are relied on by the media for information on the campaign
allow pundits to analyze voting on Election Day
have caused the public to question the accuracy of p

are instrumental in designing campaign strategy

Tracking polls are significant because they ______.
are able to catch daily changes in public opinion that other horse race polls cannot
help candidates devise their campaign strategies
allow pundits to make predictions on Election Day
have caused the pub

are able to catch daily changes in public opinion that other horse race polls cannot

According to studies, Americans tend to be ______.
knowledgeable about the political system but not knowledgeable about issues or candidates
very knowledgeable about politics
not very knowledgeable about politics
knowledgeable about officeholders but not

not very knowledgeable about politics

Education is a source of all of the following EXCEPT this:
Democratic engagement
Democratic enlightenment
Socialization
Tolerance
Apathy

Apathy

The gender gap is especially large on issues of ______.
equality
social values
government involvement in the lives of citizens
justice
violence

violence

Which of the following statements concerning exit polls is NOT true?
They are taken from people who have just voted.
They are used by the networks to declare winners in national elections.
They are intended to provide information for analyzing the results

They are a form of pseudo-poll.

When politicians try to determine public opinion by listening to their supporters and friendly interest groups, they are likely to face the problem of ______.
straw men polling
sampling error
sample bias
push polling
erroneous data

sample bias

One concern about the wording of questions in polls is that the person being sampled will be unfamiliar with a subject and thereby ______.
be unlikely to finish the polling session
never participate in a poll again
give responses solely based on cues pick

give responses solely based on cues picked up from the context of the interview or the question

Benchmark polls and tracking polls are two types of ______.
push polls
campaign polls
pseudo-polls
exit polls
national polls

campaign polls

Sampling error refers to ______.
a number that indicates within what range the results of a poll are accurate
a situation in which a sample is not representative of the larger universe being measured
a situation in which question wording biases the result

a number that indicates within what range the results of a poll are accurate

The role of public opinion in government today is strongly debated because ______.
measuring public opinion accurately is nearly impossible
people always trust their own opinions but never the opinions of others
Congress listens only to a few people's opi

on the one hand, we want our opinions to be heard, but on the other hand, we don't want politicians to blindly follow public opinion

Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States ranks ______ in voter participation.
in the middle
about the same as most western European nations
in the top quarter
among the very highest
near the bottom

near the bottom

All of the following have great influence on public policy EXCEPT this group:
The well educated
The young
The opinion leaders
The wealthy
Those who vote

The young

Good survey questions meet all of the following criteria EXCEPT ______.
they ask about subjects that people are familiar with and that they have thought about
they offer a reasonable number of choices
they do not use loaded language
they are unambiguous
t

they are always short

The portion of the population selected to participate in a poll is known as the ______.
sample
population
focus group
deliberative group
public

sample

Self-interest is a source of ______.
divisions in society
manipulation by politicians in society
the lack of support for good public policies only by the uneducated in society
agreement in society
socialization in society

divisions in society

Which of the following statements concerning technology and polling is NOT true?
Robo polling is the replacement of people with computers.
Telephone interviewing replaced in-person polling.
Pollsters now create panels of citizens who regularly answer onli

Autodialing is one method of overcoming the problems caused by citizen reliance on cell phones.

A plebiscite is ______.
a law that grants ex-felons the right to vote
a popular vote on national policy issues
a parliamentary system to replace the current system of separation of powers
an amendment to the Constitution
a proposed constitutional conventi

a popular vote on national policy issues

The collective decisions of citizens reflect a greater level of knowledge than public opinion polls reflect because of all of the following EXCEPT this:
The desire to hide our real views from pollsters
On-line processing
The two-step flow of communication

The desire to hide our real views from pollsters

Which of the following statements concerning the roles of ideology and partisanship in shaping public opinion is NOT true?
Over the past few decades, the relationship between the ideological beliefs of individuals and their partisanship has grown closer.

Most Americans are too moderate or nonpartisan for these concepts to have much influence on them.

The sharp decline in trust in government among the public in the 1960s and 1970s is used by the authors to show the effects of ______ on political socialization.
schools and education
groups
the family
political and social events
age

political and social events

With respect to constructing survey questions, all of the following statements are true EXCEPT this one:
The order in which questions are asked can change the results.
Respondents are often willing to give opinions on subjects about which they know little

Surveys tend to underestimate the racial tolerance of the American people.

Rational ignorance refers to ______.
the belief that a lack of tolerance may be acceptable under certain circumstances
the realization that politics is unimportant and has little impact on our lives, and thus, there is no need to participate
a person's de

the state of being uninformed about politics because the cost in time and energy does not produce tangible or measurable results

Tolerance is a key democratic value because ______.
the founders were tolerant
it makes people feel good
most people believe in it
we should love our neighbors
it is a prerequisite for compromise

it is a prerequisite for compromise

A survey question such as, "Do you support or oppose being allowed to take the Life-time Learning Credit during years in which you pay for postsecondary education with a distribution from an education IRA?" is problematic because ______.
the question is n

it is likely that few people have thought about the issue

The danger of majority tyranny in a democracy most likely would result from ______.
the tendency of citizens to vote emotionally in elections
the growing influence of the media
majority rule without the tempering influence of debate and discussion
too man

majority rule without the tempering influence of debate and discussion

Research indicates that ______.
politicians running for Congress usually have little interest in the presidential election
state elections have little influence on state public policy
all of the above
the electoral process does a surprisingly good job of

the electoral process does a surprisingly good job of directing policy

In recent presidential elections, voter turnout has been ______.
remaining around 70 percent
dropping
remaining around 30 percent
remaining around 20 percent
rising

rising

Which of the following statements is NOT true about the choice of a vice presidential candidate?
Historically, the choice does not seem to have had significant electoral consequences.
The choice of the vice presidential nominee is up to the presidential n

Traditionally, the vice presidential candidate is from the same region and wing of the party as the presidential candidate.

Front-loading affects the selection of a nominee by ______.
making the selection of senators as party nominees much more likely than the selection of governors
making money less important in early contests as long as the candidate gets in front of other b

making success in earlier primaries all the more important in gaining and keeping momentum

In recent get-out-the-vote efforts, parties have ______.
failed to merge new technologies with older forms of voter mobilization
decreased their efforts because the public has not been responding
put more effort and technology into grassroots mobilization

put more effort and technology into grassroots mobilization efforts

Because of the Electoral College, presidential candidates generally spend most of their time and resources in ______.
states where there are competitive local races so that they can raise money for their own general-election campaigns
coastal and border s

competitive states, especially large ones

To receive government matching funds in primary elections, candidates must ______.
raise a specified amount of money from at least twenty states
put up at least 20 percent of their yearly income as collateral
reach particular requirements on numbers of pe

raise a specified amount of money from at least twenty states

All of the following statements concerning the Electoral College are true EXCEPT this one:
All the proposed alternatives have problems or at least serious criticisms.
It distorts candidates' campaign strategies.
The rules of the Electoral College give all

The rules of the Electoral College give all the states importance in presidential elections.

Modern campaigns are run by professional staff because ______.
the party political committees cannot be trusted
presidential candidates believe a professional staff reflects better on their credentials for the presidency
the party campaign committee canno

the party campaign committee cannot provide the technical services needed in the modern campaign

To win the presidency, a candidate must do all of the following EXCEPT this:
Raise large amounts of money before the primaries and caucuses start and while they are going on
Focus the general-election campaign on the large, competitive states
Energize the

Pick a vice presidential candidate who will win large numbers of votes

The primary impact of state voter registration laws has been to ______.
decrease turnout
discourage voters from identifying themselves with a party
improve voter awareness of elections
make it more expensive to vote
prevent fraud

decrease turnout

A ______
issue is one on which the parties differ in their perspectives and their proposed solutions.
position
wedge
third-rail
valence
momentum

position

The term convention bump refers to ______.
the opinion poll spike that most candidates enjoy immediately after the convention
convincing the candidate's primary-election rivals to support him at the convention
the danger of a front-runner stumbling badly

the opinion poll spike that most candidates enjoy immediately after the convention

What is a key effect of Electoral College votes being counted on a winner-take-all basis in all but two states?
Candidates have to raise considerable amounts of money during the general election campaign.
The electoral vote margin exaggerates the popular

The electoral vote margin exaggerates the popular vote margin, which then legitimizes the winner's victory.

Who may collect government matching funds during the general election?
Only the nominees of the two major parties
Any natural-born American who has received the nomination of any American political party, no matter how minor the party
Major-party candidat

Major-party candidates and third-party candidates whose party received at least 5 percent of the vote in the previous presidential election

The main debate concerning scholars' interpretations of Red and Blue America centers on whether ______.
we should determine the winner of the presidential election by the number of states won by each party instead of through the Electoral College
ideologi

ideological differences have divided America into two opposing camps or whether ideological divisions are not very decisive

Momentum and electability are important factors in voters' decision making during primaries because voters ______.
must rely on partisanship to determine these characteristics
cannot rely on partisanship, which is typically the strongest cue they have in

cannot rely on partisanship, which is typically the strongest cue they have in voting behavior

As a method of selecting leaders, democratic elections ensure that the ______.
best potential candidates will be attracted to the process
selection of leaders will be a smooth and uncontroversial process
winning candidate will have been chosen by a majori

leader chosen is the most popular candidate on the ballot

When analyzing campaign advertisements, one should ask all of the following questions EXCEPT this one:
Who is running the ad?
How much did the ad cost?
Are the accusations relevant to the campaign or office in question?
Is the ad true?
Is the accusation o

How much did the ad cost?

The Constitution dictates that each state has ______.
an equal number of electors
one elector for each senator and one elector for each representative
fewer electors if the presidential or vice presidential candidates are not from their state
a minimum of

one elector for each senator and one elector for each representative

A party caucus is a meeting of ______.
the national party committee to assign delegates to the national convention
none of the above
state politicians who send themselves to the national convention
voters to decide which parties make it onto the ballot
lo

local party members who choose delegates for the national convention

The media interpret election outcomes by ______.
lifting assessments of the election from political scientists and historians
providing vastly different explanations for the election's outcome, which means no one is sure why the winning candidate succeede

quickly developing a standard, though incomplete, explanation of the complex decision made by the American electorate

Negative advertising ______.
is accepted as fact by the public in campaigns for lower office but is rejected in presidential elections
is strictly an act of desperation and typically signifies that the candidate using these ads is far behind in the polls

registers more quickly and is remembered longer than information from positive advertisements

According to the text, the images that voters have of candidates usually cause voters to ______.
struggle to perceive any meaningful differences among presidential candidates
typically ignore candidate qualities that are relevant to governing
choose the m

form clear opinions about candidate qualities that are relevant to governing

Elections perform all of the following functions EXCEPT this one:
Making political outcomes acceptable to the participants
Decreasing political efficacy
Informing the public
Selecting leaders
Containing conflict

Decreasing political efficacy

Which of the following statements does NOT reflect a key change in attitude within the American electorate that has likely led to decreased voter turnout?
People question whether the government is responsive to citizens' wishes.
Political efficacy has inc

Political efficacy has increased significantly in recent decades.

Wedge issues are controversial matters ______.
on which most voters and candidates share the same position
that one party uses to split voters in the other party
that undecided voters use to choose their preferred candidate
that are generally ignored in c

that one party uses to split voters in the other party

Typically the three important tasks of the presidential convention are to pick the presidential candidate, ______.
avoid media attention given to the convention, and line up interest group support
have a good time, and avoid media attention given to the c

select the vice presidential candidate, and write the party's platform

In the presidential nomination process, ______.
front-loading favors the candidate who goes into the nomination process as the front-runner
more states use caucuses than use primary elections to choose delegates to the national convention
the goal in the

front-loading favors the candidate who goes into the nomination process as the front-runner

Some of the overall decline in voter turnout at the end of the twentieth century was likely due to ______.
the number of interest groups in a community
increasing citizen involvement in community groups
declining citizen involvement in community groups
th

declining citizen involvement in community groups

______ determine(s) how delegates are distributed by the primaries.
Party rules
Municipal regulations
The Constitution
State statutes
Federal statutes

Party rules

According to the textbook, what is considered "winning" in primary elections?
Taking first place in every primary or caucus on a particular day
Having an absolute majority of votes in every primary
Winning only the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary bu

Beating expectations and gathering momentum, even if the candidate did not come in first in the primary or caucus

Citizens' feelings of effectiveness in political affairs is called ______.
good feelings
political efficacy
system stability
power
legitimacy

political efficacy

Politicians who are thinking about running for the presidency begin their runs by ______.
acquiring the money to run
testing the waters unofficially
filing with the Federal Election Commission
announcing their candidacy
positioning themselves as credible

testing the waters unofficially

According to the textbook, for candidates, the goal of presidential campaigns is to ______.
convince undecided and swing voters to support them
persuade their party members to show up at the polls
convert voters affiliated with the other party
destroy the

mobilize their bases and entice swing voters to vote for them

The founders created the Electoral College and specified that senators would be chosen by the state legislatures because ______.
allowing direct election of one institution of government was so radical an idea at the time that it never occurred to them to

they feared that the people would band together with like-minded people to fight for their own interests rather make choices based on the public good

Politicians probably won't pass major electoral reforms that might increase participation because current politicians ______.
feel such laws are too complicated
are against the status quo, but their aggressive reforms often make the public uneasy
know tha

won in the current system and are concerned about whom the beneficiaries of such changes might be

All of the following statements concerning the media in election campaigns are true EXCEPT this one:
The Internet magnifies the importance of every error by a candidate, no matter how trivial.
The public's reliance on campaign advertising has increased dr

Debates usually have more impact on voter evaluation of the candidate than any other event of the campaign.

The disproportionate amount of attention politicians pay to members of the middle and upper classes may best be attributed to the fact that ______.
these voters go to the polls at substantially higher rates than do members of other classes
these people ar

these voters go to the polls at substantially higher rates than do members of other classes

The single biggest factor accounting for how people decide to vote is ______.
party identification
candidate characteristics
ethnicity
the issues
gender

party identification

Delegates to the national conventions are chosen ______.
by national surveys
in closed meetings of the party leaders
by the party's cabinet
in primary elections and caucuses
by the party's presidential candidate

in primary elections and caucuses

Front-loading is the process of ______.
requiring all fundraising to occur in the year prior to parties' primaries and caucuses
encouraging one's supporters to vote early on the primary-election day
scheduling presidential primaries earlier in the primary

scheduling presidential primaries earlier in the primary season

Oppo research refers to an investigation of the ______.
opposing party's campaign strategy
other candidate's background, often to find negative information
best possible media strategy
mistakes of past campaigns
electorate's mood prior to a campaign

other candidate's background, often to find negative information

Faithless electors, as defined by the text, are electors who ______.
neglect to vote for any presidential candidate
have a position of trust with the federal government in violation of the Constitution
refuse to pledge support to a candidate before the el

vote their conscience rather than for the candidate they were pledged to support in the Electoral College