POLI 300 STUDENT POLITICAL ATTITUDES SURVEY FALL & SPRING 2009

Q1. Party Identification Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or what? F09 S09 18(1)Democrat 17 12(2)Independent 8 4(3)Republican 2 4(4)Other; minor party 1 0(5)Don't know 0 0(9)[Missing Data] 1

Q2. Party ID Follow-up Question 2 F09SP09 11(1) 21 20(2) 7 3(3) 0 4(9) 1

Q2. Party ID Follow-up [If Q1 = 1] Would you call yourself a strong Democrat or a not very strong Democrat? (1)Strong Democrat (2)Not very strong Democrat [If Q1 = 2] Do you think of yourself as closer to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party? (1)Closer to Democratic Party (2)Closer to Republican Party (3)Neither [If Q1 = 3] Would you call yourself a strong Republican or a not very strong Republican? (1)Strong Republican (2)Not very strong Republican

Party ID – Seven-Point Scale (Q1 + Q2) Party ID – Seven-Point Scale F09SP09 6(1) Strong Democrat (2) Weak Democrat 4 8 (3) Democratic Leaner 6 0 (4) Pure Independent 0 4 (5) Republican Leaner 2 4 (6) Weak Republican 1 0 (4) Strong Republican 1 4 (9) Other, DK, or inconsistent 2

Party ID – Seven-Point Scale Recoded into Direction Only Party ID – Seven-Point Scale Recoded F09SP09 26(1) Democrat 23 0(2)Pure Independent 0 8(3)Republican 4 4(9) Other, DK, or inconsistent 2

Q3. Recalled Father’s Party ID To the best of your knowledge, does (or did) your father generally think of himself as a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or what? F09SP09 17(1)Democrat 19 4(2)Independent 2 10(3)Republican 2 0(4)Other; minor party 0 7(5)Don't know; not applicable 6

Q4. Recalled Mother’s Party ID To the best of your knowledge, does (or did) your mother generally think of herself as a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or what? F09SP09 19(1)Democrat 19 2(2)Independent 2 9(3)Republican 2 1(4)Other; minor party 0 7(5)Don't know; not applicable 6

Q5. Presidential Preference in 2004 Regardless of whether you voted or not, whom did you prefer for President in the 2004 election? F09 SP09 12(1)George W. Bush 3 17(2)John F. Kerry 24 4(3)Ralph Nader 1 2(4)Other minor party candidate 0 3(5)Don't know; no preference 1

Q6. Campaign Interest Some people don't pay much attention to political campaigns. How about you? How interested are you in the [upcoming] 2008 Presidential election campaign? F09SP09 0(1)Not much interested 0 4(2)Somewhat interested 6 34(3)Very much interested 23

Q7. Democratic Nomination Preference Which candidate did [do] you prefer for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination? F09 SP09 F08F (1) Hillary Clinton (2) John Edwards (3) Barack Obama (4) Bill Richardson/ 1 Al Gore (5) Other candidate; don’t 5 10 know; no preference 1 0(9) 1 0

Q8. Republican Nomination Preference Which [possible] candidate did [do] you prefer for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination? F09 SP09F08F (1) Rudy Giuliani (2) Mike Huckabee/ 3 Fred Thompson (3) John McCain (4) Mitt Romney (5) Other candidate; don’t know; no preference (9) 1

Fred Thompson

Q9. Watched Debates? Did you watch the televised Presidential debates between Obama and McCain last Fall? F09 SP09 18(1)Yes, most or all of the debates (2)Yes, at least one debate 13 2(3)No, I did not watch any of the 3 debates 0(4)Don't know; don't remember 0

Q10. Voted? In surveys about elections, it is often found that a lot of people were not able to vote because they weren't registered, they were sick, or they just didn't have time. How about you — did you vote in the last Presidential election in November 2008? F09 SP09 2(1)I was not eligible to vote at the 2 time of the 2004 election (not 18 years of age, not a citizen, etc.) 25(2)Yes, I did vote 21 10(3) No, I didn't vote (though I was 6 eligible) 0(4)Don't know; don't remember 0

Q11. Presidential Preference Regardless of whether you voted or not, whom did [do] you prefer for President? [If an election were held today between John McCain and Barack Obama, whom would you prefer for President?] F09 SP09F08F (1)John McCain (2)Barack Obama (3)Other minor candidate 1 0 (4)No preference; don’t know 0

Q12. Presidential Approval Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barak Obama [George W. Bush] is handling his job as President? F09 SP09F08F (1)Strongly approve (2)Approve (3)Disapprove (4)Strongly disapprove (5)No opinion (9) 1

Q13. Abortion Opinion With regard to the issue of abortion, which statement best agrees with your view? F09SP09 3 (1)By law, abortion should never be 0 permitted. 11 (2)The law should permit abortion only in 5 case of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger. 6 (3)The law should permit abortion for 13 other reasons than rape, incest, or danger to the woman's life, but only after the need for the abortion has been clearly established. 18(4)By law, a woman should always be 11 able to obtain an abortion as a matter of personal choice. 1 0(9)

Q14. Health Insurance Opinion With regard to the matter of the government's role in health insurance, where would you place yourself on the following scale? F09SP09 10 (1)There should be a government 8 insurance plan that would cover all medical and hospital costs for everyone. 9 (2)Mixture but mostly government (3)Mixture about even between 7 government and private. 8 (4)Mixture but mostly private. 3 3 (5)All medical expenses should be 1 paid by individuals and through private insurance plans like Blue Cross or other company paid plans.

Q15. Democratic Party Thermometer Scale On a scale of 0 degrees to 100 degrees, how cool (unfavorable) or warm (favorable) do feel toward the Democratic Party? F09SP09 1(1)0-20 degrees 0 8(2)21-40 degrees 2 6(3)41-60 degrees 6 18(4)61-80 degrees 11 5(5) degrees 10

Q16. Republican Party Thermometer Scale On a scale of 0 degrees to 100 degrees, how cool (unfavorable) or warm (favorable) do feel toward the Republican Party? F09SP09 7(1)0-20 degrees 10 14(2)21-40 degrees 9 11(3)41-60 degrees 10 4(4)61-80 degrees 0 2(5) degrees 0

Q17. Follow Public Affairs How often would you say that you follow what is going on in government and public affairs? F09SP09 23(1)Most of the time 17 12(2)Some of the time 12 2(3)Little 0 1(4)Very little 0

Q18. Government Wastes $$$ Do you think that people in the government waste a lot of the money we pay in taxes or waste just some or very little of it? F09SP09 28(1)Waste a lot 23 9(2)Waste some or little 6 1 (4)???

Q19. Government Does What’s Right How much of the time do you think that you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right? F09SP09 25(1)Some of the time 21 13(2)Most of the time 8

Q20. Big Interests vs. People Would you say the government is pretty much run by a few big interests looking out for themselves or that it is run for the benefit of all the people? F09SP09 24(1)For few big interests 19 14(2)Benefit of all 10

Q21. People Have Say Do you agree or disagree with the statement, "People like me don't have any say about what the government does"? F09 SP09 6(1)Agree 5 12(2)Neutral 9 20(3)Disagree15

Q22. Public Officials Care Do you agree or disagree with the statement, "I don't think public officials care much what people like me think"? F09 SP09 4(1)Agree 5 21(2)Neutral 8 13(3)Disagree16

Q23. Politics Too Complicated Do you agree or disagree with the statement, "Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me can't really understand what's going on"? F09 SP09 6(1)Agree 3 7(2)Neutral 4 25(3)Disagree 22

Q24. R’s Own Ideology We hear a lot of talk these days about liberals and conservatives. Where would you place yourself in these terms? F09SP09 8(1)Liberal 9 11(2)Slightly liberal 9 13(3)Moderate/middle of road 8 4(4)Slightly conservative 0 2(5)Conservative 3

Q25. Bush Ideology Where would you place George W. Bush in these terms? F09SP09 1(1)Liberal 1 0(2)Slightly liberal 0 2(3)Moderate/middle of road 2 12(4)Slightly conservative 6 23(5)Conservative 20

Q26. Bill Clinton Ideology Where would you place Bill Clinton in these terms? F09SP09 15(1)Liberal 9 17(2)Slightly liberal 14 5(3)Moderate/middle of road 5 0(4)Slightly conservative 0 1(5)Conservative 1

Q27. Hillary Clinton Ideology Where would you place Hillary Clinton in these terms? F09S09 20(1)Liberal 9 10(2)Slightly liberal 12 5(3)Moderate/middle of road 6 3(4)Slightly conservative 2 0(5)Conservative 0

Q28. McCain Ideology Where would you place John McCain in these terms? F09SP09 1(1)Liberal 0 0(2)Slightly liberal 1 7 (3)Moderate/middle of road 6 15(4)Slightly conservative 15 15(5)Conservative 7

Q29. Obama Ideology Where would you place Barack Obama in these terms? F09SP09 19 (1)Liberal 14 12(2)Slightly liberal 14 5(3)Moderate/middle of road 1 2(4)Slightly conservative 0 0(5)Conservative 0

Q30. Ralph Nader Ideology Where would you place Ralph Nader in these terms? F09SP09 16(1)Liberal 13 2(2)Slightly liberal 4 17(3)Moderate/middle of road 7 1(4)Slightly conservative 4 2(5)Conservative 1

Q31. Schwarzenegger Ideology Where would you place Arnold Schwarzenegger in these terms? F09SP09 3(1)Liberal 2 4(2)Slightly liberal 3 9(3)Moderate/middle of road 8 16(4)Slightly conservative 11 6(5)Conservative 5

Q32. Democratic Party Ideology Where would you place the Democratic Party in these terms? F09SP09 18(1)Liberal 10 14(2)Slightly liberal 17 4(3)Moderate/middle of road 2 1(4)Slightly conservative 0 1(5)Conservative 0

Q33. Republican Party Ideology Where would you place the Republican Party in these terms? F09SP09 1(1)Liberal 0 1(2)Slightly liberal 0 1(3)Moderate/middle of road 2 9(4)Slightly conservative 11 26(5)Conservative 16