Study Questions

  1. How closely should elected officials follow public opinion in their role as statesmen? What makes it difficult for elected officials to follow the will of the people as evidenced through polls?
  2. How has the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011 affected younger Americans’ basic political beliefs?
  3. Because not everyone has a landline telephone in their home or even an internet connection, obtaining a representative sample for many surveys is difficult. What bias may be amplified if pollsters or researchers rely on telephone or online surveys to construct their data sets?