How can public opinion polling link public preferences and public policy? Why are some people ...

Ans. to #1

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Explain that public opinion polls can provide government officials with information about public preferences and allow them to act in accordance.
2. Discuss controversies surrounding polls, such as overreliance on them in crafting messages by politicians, the potential for polls to shape opinion rather than vice versa, media use and coverage of polls (e.g. horse-race coverage), and problems for polling related to technology.

Ans. to #2

Answer: a

Ans. to #3

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Compare and contrast voting rates as a function of education, income, gender, and race and ethnicity.
2. Identify potential reasons for nonvoting, such as lack of information, not caring, cynicism, distrust, alienation, cost-benefit calculations, and busyness.
3. State and defend a position regarding low voter turnout.

Ans. to #4

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Briefly identify and explain benchmark polls, tracking polls, exit polls, and push polls.
2. Discuss the real aims of push polls and the views of the American Association of Political Consultants on them.

Ans. to #5

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Explain the elitist and pluralist perspectives on the role of the connection between public opinion and public policy.
2. Contrast Texas with states that provide for recall elections, referenda, and initiatives.
3. Explain that the reality of Texas politics is a mix of elitism and pluralism, depending on things like the levels of public information and attentiveness regarding issues.
4. State and defend a position regarding the role of public opinion in shaping public policy.

Ans. to #6

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Compare and contrast opinions as a function of party identification, gender, race and ethnicity, education, religiosity, and age.
2. Define and explain crosscutting cleavages and intersectionality.
3. Explain that individuals often belong to multiple groups that can impact their beliefs in different, and potentially opposing, ways.

Ans. to #7

Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Define and explain political socialization.
2. Identify agents of socialization (including family, schools, peers and community, media, religion, and events) and explain how each can influence political beliefs.
3. Identify an agent as most important and provide an explanation of why it is the most important.

I hope they're paying you for this because all of them were correct

not really, just a volunteer... and you're welcome