GENERAL INFO
What is Public Opinion?
The ideas and attitudes that people have about a particular issue or person
What are some factors that play a role in people's opinions?
Age, gender, income, race, religion, occupation, and place of residence
What are the 3 features of public opinion?
Direction, intensity, and stability
What is one, more broad, way of measuring public opinion?
Looking at election results
What are Push Polls?
Polls with questions worded so as to influence a person's responses one way or another.
Why do presidents pay attention to the public opinion when making decisions?
What are some examples of mass media?
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, recordings, movies, internet web sites, and books
Holding a positive or negative opinion on a topic is an example of which public opinion feature?
Direction
Every major elected official uses _____ to closely monitor public opinion.
What is the arguement that supports polling?
They say polling allows office holders to keep in touch with citizens' changing ideas about issues.
Successful presidents have a good sense of what?
When the public is ready for a new idea and when it is not
Who can influence public opinion?
Political leaders and government officials
What term refers to the strength of an opinion on a given issue?
Intensity
What is a more accurate way of measuring public opinion?
Survey or public opinion poll
What is the arguement against polling?
They say polling makes the elected officals more worried about pleasing the public than making wise decisions.
Why is Public Opinion not uniform?
Hardly any Americans agree on every single issue
Interest groups are sometimes called ____________.
Pressure groups
What is does the "stability of public opinion" mean?
It is how firmly people hold to their views in a particular issue
A specialist whose job is to conduct polls regularly is commonly called a _______.
Pollster
What are some things that shape public policy?
Public opinion, interest groups, political parties, the mass media, other institutions of government, and individuals
Who said, "I cannot go any faster than the people will let me"?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
People who share a point of view or belief sometimes form _________.
Which issues do most Americans hold the strongest convictions for?
The issues that directly affect their lives
Why do pollsters word their questions carefully?
To find out people's true opinions
Why might polling play a role in people not voting?
If the polls show one candidate far ahead of another, some people may not vote because they think the election has already been won or lost.