GENERAL INFO
What is Public opinion?
Refers to the ideas or attitudes that most people hold about a particular issue or person.
What are the factors that influence public opinion?
A person's background, the mass media, public officials, and interest groups.
What three words often describe public opinion?
Direction, intensity, and stability.
What is one way to measure public opinion?
To look at election results.
What are push polls?
Polls in which the questions are worded so as to influence a persons responses one way or another.
What are the two things the President need?
The support of the public and the support of Congress
What plays important roles in people's opinions?
Age, gender, income, race, religion, occupation, and place of residence.
What is one important question about the public opinion on a given topic?
Whether the public opinion is negative or positive
What is a more accurate way to measure public opinion?
To have individuals to fill out a survey or a public opinion poll.
How do polls help Government officials?
So they do not have to wait until the next election to see if people approve or disapprove of government policies.
Why does the President need to understand public opinion?
To make effective and timely decisions
What are considered mass media?
Television, radio, newspaper, magazines, recordings, movies, Internet websites, and books?
What does intensity refer to?
It refers to the strength of an opinion on a given issue.
What do pollsters do?
They measure the president's popularity or public attitudes toward possible White House proposals.
Why does the media constantly conduct polls during elections?
So they can report who is ahead.
Why is public opinion not always the same among people?
People have different views and not everyone agrees on the same problems.
What are interest groups?
Interest groups work at influencing public opinion by trying to persuade people, including public officials toward their point of view.
What does the stability of public opinion mean?
How firmly people hold to their views.
What are random samples?
Pollsters usually question a random group of 1,500 people to reflect the characteristics of a whole population.
Who also shapes public policy?
Interest groups, political parties, the mass media, other institutions of government, and individuals.
How does high public popularity help a President with Congress?
It makes it more likely Congress will support the Presidents programs.
Why are interest groups sometimes called pressure groups?
They attempt to put pressure on the government to act in their interest.
What issues do most Americans hold the strongest convictions on?
The issues that directly affect their lives.
How can pollsters manipulate the process to nearly get any answer they want?
By changing the wording of the questions.
What do the critics think these polls treat elections like?
A horse race