AMERICAN POLITICS DAY 2
Political Behavior August 2000

Answer two of the following questions.

1. Describe and evaluate the importance of media effects in shaping public opinion and individual vote choice. Do different kinds of media differ in their effects? Do different types of voters respond differently to media messages? Do media effects vary across different electoral contexts and/or public opinion domains?

2. In general, how important are the demographic characteristics of an individual (e.g. race, religion, gender, class) in determining his or her voting behavior? Which demographic factors axe mast influential in predicting the vote and why? Select at least two factors and elaborate how their impact has changed (if at all) over the past forty years, and why.

3. Numerous efforts have been made to explain voter turnout and political participation using a rational choice approach. How successful do you assess these efforts to be? How well can these explanations account for the variations in voter turnout fox President that have occurred since 1960 in the United States? What other factors (if any) should one consider to better explain patterns of political participation?