CMS 345P Midterm Exam 55 Questions with Verified Answers
5 features of the "classical" model of public opinion - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Reasoned, rational
... [Show More] discourse
2) To find the common will
3) With open participation
4) Based on the merits of ideas
5) Participants must have access to information (informed public sphere)
What is public opinion? - CORRECT ANSWER An aggregation of individual views
Collective level product of discussion
Only the majority (expressed the most and the actual majority)
A product of groups and power
A reflection of mediated and elite views communicated to the public
A rhetorical term
Linked to discussion and to the free flow of information, was supposed to reflect the common good, and it was cast as a new and powerful tribunal for checking the actions of the state and the idea most true to the general will gives way to the most commonly held idea
Two conceptions of public - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Public referring to common access, as in a "public place" - openness, availability, and general access to the population
2) Public in reference to matters of general concern, the state, and the office - focuses on common good and common interest
Key types of public - CORRECT ANSWER General public
Voting public
Attentive public
Active public
Elites
Issue public
General public - CORRECT ANSWER a population in its entirety
Voting public - CORRECT ANSWER the electorate within the general public, ~70%
Attentive public - CORRECT ANSWER the ~50% of the voting public that is attentive to politics regularly
Active public - CORRECT ANSWER ~15% of attentive public that has active involvement and participation in politics, acting on a shared issue
Elites - CORRECT ANSWER Elites: the most active members in politics, ~1% of the general public
The opinion formers, political leaders, and activists
Issue publics - CORRECT ANSWER the people who are most concerned with a specific issue, which determines how and where the person applies their effort and participation
Someone may be attentive for healthcare reform but only in the general public for another issue, like terrorism
Two conceptions of opinion - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Essentially epistemological - distinguishes a matter of opinion from a matter of fact, or something unknown from something known to be true, either by demonstration or faith
2) Equated with manners, morals, and customs - reputation, esteem, and a general regard of others - a kind of informal social pressure and social control
Key types of opinion - CORRECT ANSWER Public/private
Pro/con
Intensity
Informed
Importance
Habermas and the public sphere - CORRECT ANSWER space in which people can deliberate together to discuss issues of common concern; rational and egalitarian features of public opinion during the Enlightenment - reasoned discourse, active conversation, debate
Possible critiques of the classic model - CORRECT ANSWER - Marxist interpretation of the public sphere as an aspect of capitalist/bourgeois ascendency
- Debatable whether it was truly egalitarian, rational, and critical, as opposed to sensationalistic and celebrity-oriented moral criticism
- Historical ambivalence to individualism and open contestation - public opinion transcends individual opinion and reflects an abstract, common good rather than a compromise of individual interests
- The public as a political or ideological construct that was used as an instrument by the bourgeoisie in order to extract claim of public approval from the government and its critics
- Systematic public relations by the government as proposed by Necker
Majoritarian view of public opinion - CORRECT ANSWER the agglomerate interests of the men of the community; maximizing separate individual wills into a majority
Only a select number of issues are represented and voted on
Public = electorate, as the "deputies of the people" with the ability to decide on representatives
5 problems plaguing the modern public - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Lack of competence - people do not have the knowledge and skill to carry out investigations
2) Lack of resources - lack of sufficient methods for public communication, one can only judge the information available to them
3) Tyranny of the majority - a mediocrity of opinion will prevail in the face of the majority
4) Susceptibility to persuasion - the public is very susceptible to highly emotional and non-rational appeals
5) Domination by elites - increasing passivity on the part of the public leads to its domination by corporate and government elites
Bandwagon effects - CORRECT ANSWER occur when voters decide to back the leader in polls, people alter their opinion according to majority views. effects are stronger for those with weaker political attachments
4 possible mechanisms of bandwagon effects - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Psychology: people are driven to support the winner
2) Social: if you know the opinion of the group, there is pressure to conform
3) Argument rehearsal: people may try to reason about why the candidate is in the lead
4) Cognitive miser: polls are a shortcut for people to reduce the field of candidates into something that is more manageable to pay attention to
How does media coverage matter? - CORRECT ANSWER the ways that candidates and issues are framed matters in creating or reducing the amount of support - momentum (none, stagnant, or increasing) impacts how well a candidate does in an election
strategic voting - CORRECT ANSWER voting for a candidate that is not your preferred candidate because you are trying to sway the outcome; assessing which candidate has the best chance to win the election and then modifying one's vote choice to account for this assessment - only done by political sophisticates
positive strategic voting - CORRECT ANSWER voting for another candidate because your top choice has no chance of winning
negative strategic voting - CORRECT ANSWER voting for another candidate when your top choice has no chance of losing - trying to choose an easily defeat-able opponent for your choice candidate
candidate viability - CORRECT ANSWER perceived chances a candidate has of winning the party's nomination
electability - CORRECT ANSWER the capability of a candidate to be elected into office
projection - CORRECT ANSWER voters assume that their own opinion is shared by the broader public; favorability → viability when people assume that because they have a good opinion of a candidate, it makes him more viable
effects of viability - CORRECT ANSWER -perceptions of candidate favorability
-candidate preferences
-campaign contributions
-campaign workers
-endorsers
underdog effects - CORRECT ANSWER people changing their vote to favor the underdog; information that one candidate is in the lead motivates people to favor the candidate who is trailing
Pre-election polling and election night projections (evidence on affecting turnout) - CORRECT ANSWER poll results can suppress turnout
- one study finds evidence that news of the projected outcome decreased the likelihood of voting among those who has not already voted
- others suggest that this is not terribly common
sociotropic voting - CORRECT ANSWER determining your vote based on the national economic conditions
pocketbook voting - CORRECT ANSWER determining your vote based on your personal economic circumstances
retrospective voting - CORRECT ANSWER retrospective voting: voting based on prior economic circumstances
prospective voting - CORRECT ANSWER prospective voting: voting based on perceived future economic circumstances as proposed by the candidate
Which type of voting is most common? - CORRECT ANSWER Retrospective sociotropic
1992 election - CORRECT ANSWER economic factors favored Clinton - less disposable per capita income growth and greater deficit - and Bush failed to uphold his promise of no new taxes
1996 election - CORRECT ANSWER economic factors favored Clinton - economy averaging a high growth rate, unemployment and inflation low, budget deficits declining - tech boom and Internet - Clinton took credit and Dole tried to run on cutting taxes
2000 election - CORRECT ANSWER economic factors favored Gore - he was Clinton's VP and had a role in the economic growth, new jobs, low unemployment, higher wages, lower deficit - however, he chose to distance himself from this success, and people had forgotten how bad the economy had been before Clinton - the economy was less of an issue
Why is the economy a good campaign issue? - CORRECT ANSWER because we know what people want and the economy rarely changes rapidly
clarifying candidate - CORRECT ANSWER the economy is on their side
insurgent candidate - CORRECT ANSWER the economy is not on their side
strategies for insurgent and clarifying candidates - CORRECT ANSWER - Clarifying: stick to the economy and emphasize their role in the good economic conditions
- Insurgent: draw attention to other issues, specifically an issue on which they are better
- The other candidate can be "locked in" to their positions on issues
Can vote choice be predicted? Using what variables? Obama Victory - CORRECT ANSWER - Partisanship, the incumbent approval rating, and economic indicators
- Variables in campaigns and their dynamics are often missed, and when factored in, they can make the prediction even more accurate
Examples - national ads, high profile moves (McCain choosing Palin as his VP)
- Certain messages mattered
2008: McSame, McBush / McCain too old / Obama not experienced enough / Obama not as patriotic as McCain / Palin not ready to be presidential / Obama will raise taxes / Obama better on economy
2012: Romney's leaked "47%" comments, which essentially accused that number of Americans of being freeloaders / Obama's debate moment criticizing Romney's tax and economic plan, which drew similarity between Romney and Bush and appealed to common people's sense and did not insult them
argument #1 citizens knowing basic facts - CORRECT ANSWER No, heuristics: these facts are not necessary for carrying out duties of citizenship because people can just use heuristics
- Even without knowledge of basic political facts, we can still reach pretty good decisions
- However, those who know more about basic political facts are better and using many shortcuts
Example: using partisanship, polling results, or endorsements to make a vote choice
argument #2 citizens knowing basic facts - CORRECT ANSWER No, memory-based vs. online processing: knowledge of basic political facts is not necessary because we don't memorize facts when assessing candidates
- This is memory-based processing, and we don't really use it
- When we encounter new information about a candidate, we update our overall impression of the candidate, but we forget the details (called online processing)
- However, then we cannot reconcile conflicting information using this
argument #3 citizens knowing basic facts - CORRECT ANSWER Yes: know basic argument and counter-argument: citizens do need to know basic political facts because this is related to learning new things about politics
- The number of political facts you knew before making a decision is a better predictor
- It is easier to learn something new when you already know a little bit about the subject
- New information fits better with what we already know
Predictors of learning political facts - CORRECT ANSWER Opportunity: media/political information available and interpersonal discussion
Motivation: interest in political learning and the importance of the event
Ability: education and background political knowledge
knowledge of basic political facts over time - CORRECT ANSWER - Knowledge of basic political facts has changed little over time
- It depends on a segment of the population - some groups persistently know more than others because of education, higher income, etc
- Since the 1940s, scholarly studies have consistently found that the public is poorly informed
key moments for political learning - CORRECT ANSWER Political (especially presidential) campaigns
Pivotal events
School and education
opinionation - CORRECT ANSWER having an opinion; the people who tend to offer opinions are knowledgeable, interested, use media, and have a perceived ability to understand (not necessarily any actual ability)
techniques to limit uninformed opinion - CORRECT ANSWER Offer a "don't know" or "no opinion" option on surveys
Ask first if people have heard about an issue before asking about their opinion on it
which comes first, opinions or reasons? - CORRECT ANSWER opinions come first, and reasons come later
A possible revision -
Opinions (some of which are uninformed) exist among the public
Media attention is provided to an issue
People learn the party positions
THEN people adopt the position of a preferred party as their own
What citizens should know - CORRECT ANSWER citizens are better able to make choices and respond to relevant cues if they have a broader range of information to draw upon, therefore citizens need to know what the government IS and DOES as well as WHO the government is
government is - CORRECT ANSWER rules of the game - knowledge of the basic structure of government - its basic values, such as citizen participation, majority rule, separation of powers, civil liberties, and its basic elements, such as the two-party system, the two houses of Congress, the role of the judiciary, and the organization of the cabinet
government does - CORRECT ANSWER substance of politics - the citizen is supposed to know what the issues are, what their history is, what the relevant facts are, what alternatives are proposed, what the party stands for, and what the consequences are
government who - CORRECT ANSWER people and parties - because one of the responsibilities of citizens is to periodically evaluate and select representatives, citizens need specific information about these leaders both as individuals and as members of key political groupings
examples of what citizens know - CORRECT ANSWER 1) Citizens do best at answering questions about the institutions and processes of politics
- Institutions and processes tend to be more stable and thus require less regular monitoring of the political landscape
- This is also the one domain of politics that is consistently taught in schools
2) Citizens do somewhat better on questions about foreign politics as opposed to the remaining topics, political leaders and domestic politics [Show Less]