American Politics Today Core 4th Edition Bianco Test Bank

American Politics Today Core 4th
Edition Bianco Test Bank

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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
TRUE/FALSE
1. Public opinion polls taken right after the Newtown shooting incident showed that Americans’ views
had not shifted much because of the incident.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?

OBJ: Define public opinion and explain why it matters in American politics.
MSC: Remembering
2. Early studies from the 1950s found overwhelming evidence that the public’s political opinions were
internally consistent and stable over time.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Remembering
3. Some beliefs, such as party identification or ideology, can change quickly in response to external
events.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Understanding
4. The main reason that few people have consistent, stable beliefs is because they are forming opinions
on the spot.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Understanding
5. An individual would be expressing what scholars call a “latent opinion” if asked for the first time to
state a position on a complicated issue such as deficit reduction.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Applying
6. Scholars have shown that even in the aftermath of major events, such as the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, people rarely revise their opinions on such issues as civil liberties.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Remembering
7. Most people have political opinions that are similar to those of their parents.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?

OBJ: Explain how people form political attitudes and opinions.
MSC: Understanding
8. Although political scientists used to believe that the public had almost no meaningful opinions, they
now believe that these opinions are based on a combination of principles and the information people
have “on the top” of their heads.
ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?

MSC: Understanding
9. Sampling error in surveys increases when the survey questions are misleading.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion

OBJ: Describe basic survey methods and potential issues affecting accuracy.
MSC: Remembering
10. Internet polls are considered more credible than those that use random digit dialing, because Internet
polls typically rely on a more advanced method of random sampling.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

MSC: Applying
11. People who give answers that they believe interviewers want to hear are a problem for survey research
because this can lead to social desirability bias.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

MSC: Understanding
12. The United States has experienced a significant increase in ideological polarization in the past thirty
years.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

OBJ: Present findings on what Americans think about major political issues.
MSC: Remembering
13. Despite general dissatisfaction with the American health care system, there is no clear alternative that
wins large amounts of support in public opinion surveys.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

MSC: Remembering
14. Support for gay marriage and/or civil unions has doubled in recent decades, at least in part because
more survey respondents say that they know someone who is gay or lesbian.
ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

MSC: Applying
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Public opinion is best defined as:

a. the amount of complexity about an individual’s beliefs.
b. an opinion formed on the spot.
c. the process by which an individual learns about politics.
d. what the public thinks about government and politics.
e. a person’s voting history.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Remembering
2. In the immediate wake of the Newtown shooting in January 2013, public opinion:
a. shifted in favor of the president.
b. shifted in favor of Congress.
c. remained unchanged.
d. shifted in favor of stricter gun control.
e. shifted in favor of less gun control.
MSC: Remembering
3. Early public research came to startling conclusions about public opinion, including:
a. many citizens had surprisingly high levels of factual information.
b. Americans were overwhelmingly conservative on almost every political issue.
c. Americans were overwhelmingly liberal on almost every political issue.
d. many citizens held inconsistent opinions.
e. older Americans were less informed about politics than most first-time voters.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Remembering
4. George describes himself as a moderate. “Moderate” is George’s:

a. ideology. d. latent opinion.
b. party identification. e. socialization.
c. policy mood.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Understanding
5. When we describe where someone falls on the conservative-moderate-liberal spectrum, we are

referring to their:
a. party identification. d. latent opinion.
b. ideology. e. consideration.
c. policy mood.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Understanding
6. Political scientists became critical of public opinion research conducted in the 1950s because:
a. researchers in the 1950s lacked the tools to conduct a nationwide survey.
b. these early studies relied primarily on focus group research.
c. these early studies oversampled wealthy respondents because they were the most likely to
own a telephone.
d. these early studies asked questions unrelated to politics.
e. researchers had an overly narrow view of what public opinion should be.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Understanding
7. What led to the development of a new theory of public opinion?

a. New research rejected the old premise that citizens’ beliefs had to be internally consistent,
stable, and based on a rationale that citizens could explain.
b. Research on surveys from the 1960s uncovered serious mathematical errors in earlier
published research from the 1950s.
c. Increased educational opportunities changed how people thought about politics.
d. New survey technologies made public opinion research easier to conduct.
e. As candidates and politicians became more dependent on polls, additional research was
needed to understand how best to measure public opinion.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Remembering
8. For most people, broad-based beliefs such as ideology and partisanship tend to:
a. remain stable over time.
b. shift depending on how a question is asked.
c. be latent opinions.
d. shift rapidly in response to questions.
e. change in response to popular presidents.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Understanding
9. Public opinion research shows that broad beliefs such as what a person wants from government:
a. form early in life.
b. are typically unstable throughout life.
c. vary from the ages of 18 through 45 but then stabilize.
d. are difficult for researchers to measure, so little is known about them.
e. form later in life after age 30, when a person learns more about how government operates.
MSC: Remembering
10. Which of the following best describes the contemporary political science perspective on public
opinion?
a. Most people’s political opinions are latent and are only formed when needed.
b. People only have strong and informed opinions on issues and subjects about
economic issues.
c. Most people are not well educated and should be discouraged from participating in politics
until they learn more about American government.
d. Most people seek out information on political issues but often fail to comprehend what
they read or hear.
e. People typically have well-formed opinions on most issues because of the abundance of
news and political information available on the Internet.
MSC: Understanding
11. What does it mean that people often form opinions on the spot?
a. Those opinions have essentially no meaning to the people who profess them.
b. People rely very heavily on their principles in formulating opinions.
c. People are sensitive to, and form their opinions based on, what they have recently
seen or heard.
d. Their opinions are ill-informed and therefore are not counted in surveys.
e. We can only really tell what people believe by using sophisticated survey techniques.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Understanding
12. What is a latent opinion?

a. a running balance of whether someone favors Republicans or Democrats
b. a description of whether a person is conservative or liberal
c. a long-held, durable belief
d. a view formed on the spot, as needed
e. an attitude about the proper level of government spending
MSC: Remembering
13. Maria is asked to take a survey. One of the questions asks her about her views on the new head of the
Federal Reserve. While Maria had not really thought about it before, she was able to come up with an
answer. This is an example of a(n):
a. policy mood. d. partisan identification.
b. latent opinion. e. consideration.
c. political ideology.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Applying
14. Things such as ideology, party identification, religious beliefs, and personal circumstances that people
use to form a latent opinion are known as what?
a. policy mood d. partisan cue
b. random sample e. consideration
c. political socialization
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Remembering
15. Self-identified Republicans and Democrats judge government spending differently depending on
whether a Republican or Democrat made the proposal. This demonstrates that:
a. poll results depend on the wording of the question.
b. most people form their opinions on the spot using a wide range of considerations.
c. random samples are hard to obtain.
d. researchers in the 1950s were correct in saying that there is no public opinion.
e. party leaders manipulate voters into supporting their ideas.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Public Opinion?
MSC: Applying
16. What is political socialization?

a. the process by which people become educated about liberal arts
b. attitudes toward social issues that come up in politics
c. the influence of politicians on people’s views about society
d. the process by which an individual’s political opinions are shaped by others
e. the amount of time people spend socializing in a political environment
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Remembering
17. Where do most people’s political opinions and ideologies start forming?
a. interactions with their parents and families
b. watching the mass media
c. the success of the president during their childhood
d. interactions with their teachers
e. conversations with their friends
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Remembering
18. People tend to have similar political views as their parents:

a. because they are raised in a certain political environment.
b. because they share a genetic makeup with their parents.
c. both because they share a genetic makeup and because of the environment.
d. neither because of the environment nor genetic makeup.
e. there is no research on this area.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Understanding
19. Which of the following is one of the “Big Five” personality traits that political psychologists believe
may affect political socialization?
a. trustworthiness d. socioeconomic status
b. agreeableness e. pathology
c. happiness
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Remembering
20. How does completing a civics class in high school impact political socialization?
a. It decreases the likelihood of a person protesting the actions of the government.
b. It increases support for democracy as a system of government.
c. It increases support for Democrats.
d. It increases support for Republicans.
e. It makes people more evenhanded and moderate in their political attitudes.
MSC: Remembering
21. Research shows that growing up in a homogeneous community:

a. increases an adult’s sense of civic duty.
b. decreases the likelihood of voting in an election.
c. increases support for Democrats.
d. increases support for Republicans.
e. makes people more evenhanded and moderate in their political attitudes.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Remembering
22. What is the most common relationship between parents and children when it comes to political
ideology and partisanship?
a. They tend to have different political opinions because of their different generations.
b. They often disagree on the most controversial political issues because children tend to
rebel against their parents.
c. They tend to share similar social views but not economic views because of changes in the
economy over time.
d. They rarely agree on who to vote for in an election because young people do not have a
strong political identity and can change their minds frequently.
e. They tend to share the same political ideology and partisanship; family is a strong and
early force in political socialization.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Remembering
23. The fact that people are socialized into politics by their family and community means that:
a. they never modify their political principles.
b. their opinions almost never change.
c. very little thought goes into political opinions.
d. events early in life can affect one’s sense of civic duty into adulthood.
e. other possible sources of influence, such as a high school civics class, have little effect.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Applying
24. A(n) ________ is defined as a large number of people who change from identifying with one political
party to identifying with the other.
a. partisan event d. ideology
b. realignment e. political movement
c. policy mood shift
MSC: Remembering
25. Political scientist John Zaller showed that opinion changes generated by an event or some other piece
of new information are more likely when:
a. the individual is a senior citizen and has more life experiences upon which to reflect.
b. the individual follows politics closely and knows that political issues can be complicated.
c. the individual is more highly educated and is used to considering different possibilities.
d. the individual is liberal and open-minded about different ideas and explanations.
e. the individual does not have a set of preexisting principles with which to interpret the
event.
ANS: E DIF: Difficult REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Remembering
26. In a survey about 9/11, pollsters found that the percentage of Americans aged 50 and over who
believed that luck was the major reason there had not been another large attack since 9/11 was nearly
double the percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who expressed the same belief. What is this an
example of?
a. ideology d. generational effects
b. latent opinions e. considerations
c. cohort effects
MSC: Applying
27. Cohort effects exist because:

a. parents have such a strong influence on an individual’s political opinions.
b. liberals and conservatives have significant political differences.
c. of an increasingly declining trust in American government and its elected officials.
d. there are genetic differences that divide those in different cohorts.
e. individuals learn about politics from the people around them.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Understanding
28. Which of the following is an example of cohort effects?

a. that individuals tend to share the same party identification as their parents
b. that people with high agreeableness are more likely to favor economic policies that help
the disadvantaged
c. that, until the 1970s, relatively few native white southerners identified with the Republican
Party
d. the failure of President Clinton to enact health care reform in 1994
e. the increasing ideological polarization in Congress
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Applying
29. According to political scientists Donald Green, Bradley Palmquist, and Eric Schickler, how do group
identities shape the decision someone makes when choosing between being a Republican and a
Democrat?
a. Group identities often influence socioeconomic status, which affects partisanship.
b. Group identities affect one’s self-esteem, which influences partisanship.
c. Group identities influence a person’s trust in government, which affects partisanship.
d. A person picks the party that has more members from the groups with whom the person
identifies.
e. Green, Palmquist, and Schickler argue that group identities are irrelevant to partisanship.
MSC: Applying
30. In the 2012 election, Barack Obama’s coalition consisted of:

a. the young, women, and ethnic and racial minorities.
b. the elderly, women, and southerners.
c. whites, men, and those with a college degree.
d. ethnic and racial minorities, men, and southerners.
e. the young, men, and ethnic and racial minorities.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
31. According to Jacobs and Shapiro, politicians play an active role in creating public opinion by:
a. paying for push polls that will produce the results they want.
b. conducting town hall interviews with voters.
c. framing the way they put forward proposals to try and sway the public.
d. spending campaign money on television advertising.
e. only supporting those positions that polls show a majority of voters support.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
32. A ________ is a way to measure public opinion by interviewing ________ population.

a. mass survey; the entire
b. mass survey; a large sample of the
c. focus group; the entire
d. focus group; a large sample of the
e. push poll; a random sample of the
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
33. The purpose of a mass survey is to:

a. influence the public to support a particular candidate or policy.
b. measure the attitudes of a particular population.
c. instruct elected officials on the rules of Congress.
d. educate and inform the public about details of public policy.
e. predict early in the presidential campaign who will win the election and why.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
34. Which of the following is true about mass opinion surveys?

a. They have become more accurate over time because of the increase in Internet polls.
b. They have become so sophisticated that scientists have been able to eliminate any
margin of error.
c. They are a powerful tool for measuring public opinion but should be
interpreted carefully.
d. They should never be trusted because samples are almost always biased.
e. They cannot give an accurate picture of public opinion.
MSC: Understanding
35. The purpose of a focus group is to:

a. gain deep insights into why people hold the opinions they do.
b. ensure the accuracy of a mass survey.
c. eliminate sampling error.
d. provide a less expensive and less labor-intensive way to conduct a mass survey.
e. gain information about what “focused” people, who care deeply about politics, think about
government policies and political candidates.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
36. A Pew Research Center survey of 1,500 randomly selected people, with a sampling error of +/−3
percent, showed that 52 percent of the respondents viewed the military effort in Afghanistan to be
going well. Based on this result, what percentage of the population views the military effort in
Afghanistan to be going well?
a. 52 percent
b. anywhere from 49 to 52 percent
c. anywhere from 52 to 55 percent
d. anywhere from 49 to 55 percent
e. sampling error and the question wording make it impossible to determine
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Applying
37. Which of the following statements is true?

a. Sampling error can be eliminated from a mass survey.
b. Sampling error prevents any poll results from being taken seriously.
c. Sampling error is usually lower if the majority of the sample includes people with a
four-year college degree.
d. Sampling error is usually lower if the majority of the sample includes people with strong
political opinions.
e. Sampling error decreases as the size of the sample gets larger.
ANS: E DIF: Difficult REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
38. A ________ is a subsection of a population chosen to participate in a survey through a selection

process in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen.
a. random sample d. sampling error
b. population e. target population
c. push poll
MSC: Remembering
39. A mass survey that seeks to understand public opinion toward President Obama’s health care reform
legislation would likely rely on a random sample of:
a. between 100,000 and 500,000 individuals.
b. between 1 million and 5 million individuals.
c. between 10,000 and 50,000 individuals.
d. between fifty and a few hundred individuals.
e. between a few hundred and several thousand individuals.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Applying
40. What does an issue scale ask people?

a. to state how close they are to one of several policy options
b. how liberal or conservative they feel
c. why they are Republican or Democrat
d. what policies are most important to them
e. to identify their socioeconomic status
MSC: Remembering
41. What is one way to get a good sample for a mass survey?
a. volunteered responses d. push polls
b. random digit dialing e. convenience sampling
c. issue scales
MSC: Remembering
42. Which of the following is a problem with mass surveys?

a. Random sampling produces sampling error in surveys.
b. Results are often inadvertently influenced by how questions are worded in the survey.
c. A typical mass survey of 1,000 people is simply not large enough to draw scientific
conclusions about national public opinion.
d. Random digit dialing only reaches people with telephones, which biases the sample by
overrepresenting the young.
e. Organizations that conduct polls do not have enough funding to do the surveys properly.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
43. Why are Internet polls unreliable?

a. There is often a liberal bias in these polls.
b. The sample is not random.
c. Computer users frequently hit the wrong key.
d. Many older Americans struggle to read from a computer screen and are prone to making
errors in their responses.
e. Internet polling firms are new to the business and are more likely to make errors.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
44. What kind of poll is used to affect, rather than measure, public opinion?
a. a push poll
b. a robo poll
c. a random sample poll
d. an exit poll
e. an opinion poll that relies on random digit dialing
MSC: Remembering
45. Why is social desirability bias a problem for surveys?

a. It increases sampling error.
b. The results fail to account for the opinions of the poor.
c. The answers from respondents are not truthful.
d. It skews the results in favor of Republican candidates.
e. It skews the results in favor of Democratic candidates.
MSC: Understanding
46. Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com and Simon Jackman of Pollster.com are known for what
technique?
a. using Internet surveys to conduct their polls
b. creating an average of polls that is more accurate than any individual poll
c. combining academic research with polling techniques
d. conducting daily polls to get a more accurate reading
e. writing poll questions in such a way that they push people toward a certain answer
MSC: Remembering
47. When an issue or topic is salient, the survey respondent is:

a. likely to be confused by the question.
b. unlikely to answer the question or to take it seriously.
c. likely to express thoughtful but inaccurate opinions.
d. likely to express thoughtful and accurate opinions.
e. likely to answer the question but with a response that the respondent thinks the interviewer
wants to hear.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
48. Survey results are most likely to be accurate when:

a. the survey is completed through a face-to-face interview.
b. the survey oversamples highly educated respondents.
c. the questions are based on a topic familiar to most Americans.
d. the questions are complex and convoluted.
e. the survey asks a hypothetical question that the respondent finds thought-provoking.
MSC: Remembering
49. When many citizens take on strongly conservative or strongly liberal identities, it is called:
a. opinion formation. d. ideological polarization.
b. political socialization. e. political maturity.
c. latent opinion formation.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Applying
50. Which of the following best describes the liberal-conservative profile of the American public?
a. A majority of Americans describe themselves as conservative.
b. Most Americans are neither strongly conservative nor strongly liberal.
c. Most Americans lean toward being more liberal than conservative or moderate.
d. Americans are deeply divided, with most of them being either strongly liberal or strongly
conservative.
e. Research on the liberal-conservative profile of the American public is inconsistent and has
generally yielded inconclusive results.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
51. Although Americans generally tend to dislike ________, they are relatively happy with ________.
a. their own representatives; the American political system
b. the U.S. Congress as a whole; their own representatives
c. both of their state’s U.S. senators; their representative in the U.S. House
d. democracy; their own representatives
e. the president; the federal government
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
52. Since the 1950s, trust in government has:

a. gone down significantly.
b. gone up significantly.
c. stayed the same.
d. decreased until the 1970s and then rebounded strongly.
e. increased until the 1970s and then dropped quickly.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
53. Why does a low level of trust in government matter?

a. It leads to high voter turnout.
b. It creates less competitive elections.
c. It can lead to elected officials pandering to their voters.
d. It allows experienced politicians to more easily manipulate less experienced politicians.
e. It makes it harder for elected officials to enact new policies.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
54. What was the policy mood during the late 1970s and early 1980s?
a. conservative
b. liberal
c. It alternated between conservative and liberal extremes.
d. moderate
e. It is impossible to determine because most polls have such high rates of sampling error.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
55. Americans’ collective demands for government action on domestic policies are measured by:
a. ideological polarization.
b. policy mood.
c. trust in government.
d. partisanship.
e. the reelection rates of incumbent officeholders.
MSC: Remembering
56. When policy mood leans in a liberal direction, how does government tend to respond?
a. by giving tax cuts and tax credits to corporations
b. by reducing civil liberties
c. by expanding the federal government’s role in different programs
d. by cutting off foreign trade
e. by following policies designed to reduce deficit spending
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
57. What is the current policy mood?

a. in favor of government action at the state level but not at the federal level
b. strongly favors government action because of continuing unemployment
c. Measures of the policy mood in the past few years have been very unstable.
d. generally neutral toward government action
e. Opposition to government action is as high as it has been since World War II.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
58. What kind of government action suits the policy mood in Obama’s second term?
a. more government action
b. less government action
c. about the same amount of government action as in recent years
d. government action at the federal level but not among the states
e. government action at the state level but not by the national government
MSC: Understanding
59. The one issue that is almost always among the top three in surveys asking Americans about the most
important problem facing the country is:
a. the economy. d. education.
b. foreign affairs. e. campaign finance reform.
c. abortion.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Remembering
60. What do opinions on Obamacare most closely align with?

a. a respondent’s ideology and party identification
b. a respondent’s race and ethnicity
c. whether a respondent previously had health care
d. the length of time a respondent spends watching the news
e. the level of education of a respondent
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
61. What is the nature of the consensus about issues like gun control and immigration?
a. There are a few specific solutions that everyone agrees on, but there is little consensus on
general issues.
b. There is no consensus, either on broad issues or on specific solutions.
c. The public might appear to agree on what should be done, but this consensus breaks down
when you start asking about specifics.
d. There is consensus on broad issues and specific solutions, but politicians will not risk
angering interest groups to enact those solutions.
e. We do not have any good public opinion data on these issues.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Understanding
62. Scholars have found that congressional actions, on the whole, are:
a. rarely in line with the views of their constituents because few elected officials are
knowledgeable about their constituents’ opinions on issues.
b. shaped by constituent opinion because to do otherwise would place elected officials in
jeopardy of losing their next elections.
c. very difficult to predict because public opinion is so difficult to measure accurately.
d. determined more by the views of party leaders and political donors than those of
their constituents.
e. shaped by constituent opinion when the issues are not salient.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: Does Public Opinion Matter?
OBJ: Evaluate the relationship between public opinion and what government does.
MSC: Understanding
63. What is the significance behind the fact that politicians, journalists, and researchers spend a lot of
money and time on public opinion polls?
a. No one can accurately measure what Americans think.
b. Polling matters in the governing of the country.
c. Random samples are difficult to get.
d. The Internet has made polling much easier to do.
e. We are still learning how to conduct polls.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Does Public Opinion Matter?
OBJ: Evaluate the relationship between public opinion and what government does.
MSC: Understanding
64. By November 2013, polling on gun control had returned to its pre-Newtown levels. This shows us
that:
a. other cues such as partisanship were more important than the Newtown incident in
forming opinions.
b. Americans have inherently unstable opinions.
c. the media has an important influence on public opinion.
d. the original polls most likely did not involve a random sample.
e. gun control is an issue that we should not conduct polls about.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?
MSC: Understanding
65. When the geographical region that you grow up in affects which party you vote for, what is it called?
a. party identification d. political socialization
b. latent opinion e. public opinion
c. ideological polarization
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Where Does Public Opinion Come From?
MSC: Applying
ESSAY
1. What is public opinion? Explain how political scientists used to view the subject and how the new
theory has changed our beliefs about public opinion. Has this new theory of public opinion done much
to advance our understanding of politics and government? If so, how? If not, why?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Evaluating
2. Most Americans’ political judgments are based on latent opinions. What does that mean and what are
latent opinions based upon? Provide an example of an issue in which most Americans would base their
judgment on a latent opinion.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Public Opinion?

MSC: Applying
3. What does the term “political socialization” mean? What factors tend to have the greatest effect on a
person’s political attitudes and opinions? Explain why the factors you identified are important.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Difficult REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?

MSC: Analyzing
4. By far the most common way of judging public opinion is through the use of mass surveys. What are
the main attributes of mass surveys? What are some of their principal strengths and weaknesses when
used to understand public opinion? Are mass surveys, on the whole, a reliable way to understand
public opinion? Why or why not?
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

MSC: Evaluating
5. Do Americans tend to trust government? What factors can influence the public’s trust in government?
Why do some scholars argue that low levels of trust in government can be problematic in a
democracy? Do you agree or disagree with these scholars? Explain.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

MSC: Evaluating
6. Americans’ views on public policy are generally characterized by conflict. Explain the public’s
conflict in three of the following areas—the economy, health care, immigration, gay marriage. Is there
potential for compromise on any of these issues? Why or why not? Please provide specific information
on these issues to support your argument.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Difficult REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

MSC: Analyzing
7. Does public opinion influence the output of American government? If so, how? If not, why? Based on
your answer to these questions, would you say that the public has too much or too little influence?
Please provide examples to support your argument.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion
MSC: Evaluating
8. What arguments can be made both in support of and in opposition to the proposition that elected
officials should decide public policy matters based on public opinion? Which side makes the more
persuasive case and why?
ANS:
Answers will vary.

MSC: Evaluating
9. Explain how latent opinions and “considerations” might affect one’s views on gay marriage,
immigration, health care, or the economy. Give an example of how considerations might explain
recent shifts in public opinion on a major issue such as gay marriage.
ANS:
Answers will vary

MSC: Analyzing
10. Imagine that you opened up the newspaper tomorrow and saw a public opinion poll about a major
policy issue. What things would you look at to determine the quality of the poll? What would make
you find the results more persuasive? What would make you question whether the results were valid?
ANS:
Answers will vary
DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

MSC: Evaluating

American Politics Today Core 4th Edition Bianco Test Bank

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American Politics Today Core 4th

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ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: What Is Public Opinion?

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?

ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?

ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Measuring Public Opinion

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

1. Public opinion is best defined as:

4. George describes himself as a moderate. “Moderate” is George’s:

5. When we describe where someone falls on the conservative-moderate-liberal spectrum, we are

7. What led to the development of a new theory of public opinion?

12. What is a latent opinion?

16. What is political socialization?

18. People tend to have similar political views as their parents:

21. Research shows that growing up in a homogeneous community:

27. Cohort effects exist because:

28. Which of the following is an example of cohort effects?

30. In the 2012 election, Barack Obama’s coalition consisted of:

32. A ________ is a way to measure public opinion by interviewing ________ population.

33. The purpose of a mass survey is to:

34. Which of the following is true about mass opinion surveys?

35. The purpose of a focus group is to:

37. Which of the following statements is true?

38. A ________ is a subsection of a population chosen to participate in a survey through a selection

40. What does an issue scale ask people?

42. Which of the following is a problem with mass surveys?

43. Why are Internet polls unreliable?

45. Why is social desirability bias a problem for surveys?

47. When an issue or topic is salient, the survey respondent is:

48. Survey results are most likely to be accurate when:

52. Since the 1950s, trust in government has:

53. Why does a low level of trust in government matter?

57. What is the current policy mood?

60. What do opinions on Obamacare most closely align with?

DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Public Opinion?

DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Public Opinion?

DIF: Difficult REF: Where Do Opinions Come From?

DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

DIF: Moderate REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

DIF: Difficult REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

DIF: Difficult REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

DIF: Difficult REF: Characteristics of American Public Opinion

DIF: Moderate REF: Measuring Public Opinion

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32. A is a way to measure public opinion by interviewing population.