Gov't

The framers of the united states constitution understood that the opinions of factions and interest groups would be heard most clearly by the gov't

The fact that the federal budget is not balanced indicates that government does not always do what people want

public policy is invariably consistent with public opinion

the government attends more to the views of a political elite than to popular views

Public opinion teds to stay relatively stable over time

most americans say yes when asked if the government should spend more on education

most americans say yes when asked if the government should spending more on reducing crime

democracy works best when people are given clear cut choices

people's specific political attitudes are probably more important to society than their underlying political culture

children will take on their parents party identification more often than their other political values

as early as the fifth grade over one half of all school children identify with one political party or another

younger voters tend to have a stronger sense of partisanship than older voters

catholics are usually more liberal than protestants but less liberal than jews

the political conservatism of jews can be traced to their tradition of social justice

religious fundamentalists and nonfundamentalists seem to have about the same opinions on economic issues

the size of the gender gap in the us public opinion seems to have remained steady throughout the twentieth century

women tend to favor more federal spending for welfare programs and problems of the homeless more than men

college education has generally liberalizing influence on political attitudes

faculty attitudes seem to be the only cause of higher educations propensity to spread liberalism among its students

surveys in the late 1960's found business and professional people had views similar to those of manual workers on a wide variety of issues

class voting has declined sharply in the us, france and great britain since the 1940's

V.O. Key's classic research found that people holding managerial or professional jobs had more liberal views than did manual workers

College students have been growing increasingly conservative on most issues, including school busing since the 1970's

most people's opinions on political affairs reflect only one or two features of their lives, for example, religion

class consciousness is comparatively strong among the united states work force

occupation is becoming less important as an explanation of political attitudes in the US

schooling is one reason why social class has become a less important predictor of political attitudes

public opinion and voting have been more determined by class in the US than in europe

in recent years economic issues have become more important than noneconomic issues in shaping political attitudes

african americans are more likely to believe that the criminal justice system is biased against them

between 1974 and 1996 african americans became more convinced that the government should help them and less convinced that they should help themselves

there exists a significant cleavage in public opinion between the leaders of african american organizations and african americans in general

class cleavage appears among blacks than among whites

in a 2001 study latinos appear to be more closely identified with the republican party than are asian americans

southerners are generally more conservative than people from other parts of the nation

the political views of white southerners are less distinct from those whites living in other parts of the nation

mos americans have political opinions but their views are not well organized into a coherent political ideology

mos americans tend to think about politics in a ideological manner

americans are more likely to describe themselves as conservatives than as liberals

our current understanding of the meanings of the words liberal and conservative dates from the time of the french revolution

a liberal on economic issues is one who favors government efforts to increase tax rates for wealthy individuals

a conservative on matters of public conduct is one who favors protecting the rights of the accused over punishing criminals

pure liberals are so called because they take liberal positions on political and economic issues as well as on lifestyle choices

pure conservatives oppose government intrusion into the economy but support government backing for traditional moral values

libertarians are those who oppose government presence both in the economy and in people's lifestyle choices

populists are those who are in favor of a government role both in economic matters and in the protection of moral values

political activists ten to be more ideologically oriented than average americans

political activists are no more consistent in their political attitudes than are average citizens

a political elite is a group of individuals who have a disproportionate share of the resources that affect the exercise of political power

the new middle class and the traditional middle class are comparable in income levels

political elites in this country draw most of their support from business enterprise

the new middle class is more likely than the traditional middle class to be liberal on social issues

the main difference between the traditional middle class and the new class is that the later is more affluent

the text claims that the liberalism of well to do individuals stems from their early exposure to leftists ideas

advantages received from both government and education help explain why some affluent individuals are liberals

the movement from undergraduate to graduate education seems to have a significant influence on an individuals chances of becoming a liberal

members of the traditional middle class are more likely than members of the new middle class to vote democratic

the text argues that a single national elite can use its disproportionate resources to have a major influence on public policy

contrary to the myth of the pandering politician, recent evidence suggests that the rate at which government adopts policies supported by majorities in polls has been declining

economic issues do not get onto the national agenda unless political elites place them there

concern for the environment is and example of an issue raised and defined by political elites