CHAPTER 7PUBLIC OPINION

DEFINING TERMS
1. *conservative

2. *gender gap

3. *liberal

4. *libertarians

5. *norm

6. partisanship

7. *political elite

8. *political ideology

9. *poll

10. *populists

11. *random sample

12. *sampling error

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1.

Why does increased schooling make a person more liberal?

2.

Outline the evolution of the terms liberal and conservative from nineteenth-century Europe to the
United States in the 1980s.

3.

Identify and then use the terms liberal, conservative, libertarian, and populist to discuss some
current political issues.

FREE RESPONSE QUESTION

The text provides evidence that casts the capabilities of the average citizen in a negative light:
ignorance of specific issues,
inconsistent political ideologies,
opinions influenced by elites,
government designed not to respond automatically to the people (constitutional checks).
Discuss the four criticisms above regarding the degrading of the publics capabilities. Defend the
publics right to be heard despite each of these criticisms.