How have family, schools, peers, and media influenced your political socialization? Think about people and incidents that have affected your attitude about politics. Explain how they all fit together to create your political framework.

If a person used only polling information as a basis for political decisions, what elements of the information should the decision maker take into account? What are some liabilities of relying solely on polling information for major political decisions?

Using material provided in the text about the low level of political information possessed by Americans (despite a relatively open and free media network), the relatively unstructured way Americans are socialized about politics, and their lack of partisan thinking, how do you account for the survival of democracy in America?