********************************************************************** Winnifred R. Louis, PhD School of Psychology, McElwain Building U of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD Australia 4072 E-mail: [email protected] ********************************************************************** SUMMARY OF RESULTS: Identity, Media Use & Attitudes and Knowledge re the War Working paper, 5/1/04. This paper has not been peer reviewed. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. APPENDIX 1: Measures of Political Knowledge Australian political knowledge *1. Who is the Prime Minister of Australia? Correct (96%): (John) Howard. See e.g. official bio of PM http://www.pm.gov.au/your_pm/biography.html *2. What are two countries that are close neighbours of Australia? Correct (89%): Any two of: East Timor, Papua New Guinea / PNG, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Zealand / NZ. See e.g. Lonely Planet map of Asia-Pacific: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/loc-aus.htm *3. What are six political parties in Australia? Correct (53%): Any 6 of Labor / ALP, Greens, Democrats, Nationals, Liberals, (Pauline Hanson's) One Nation, Socialist (Alliance), Country Labor Party, Australian Shooters Party, Christian Democratic Party, Communist party, Family First [state party in South Australia], City Country Alliance [?former QLD one nation spin off], no pokies [Independent Nick Xenophon's No Pokies Campaign, South Australia], Republican Party See e.g. Australian Electoral Commission list of registered parties http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/who/party_reg/reg_parties.htm *4. What political parties are in power in Australia right now, at the Commonwealth level? Correct (69%): Liberals, Nationals; Coalition *5a Which Commonwealth electoral district are you in? (If you don't know, please give your postal code) *5b Who is your Member of Parliament? Correct (51%): Plausible match on electorate, last name of MP. See http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/index.htm US political knowledge *US 1 Who is the current president of the United States? Correct (93%): (George W.) Bush (jr.) See official bio: http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html *us2: What are two countries that border on the United States? Correct (87%): Canada, Mexico *us3 What are the names of political parties in the United States? Correct (27%) any 3 of: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Socialist. See e.g.: http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/alcove9/usgov/parties.html *us4 Which political party is in power in the US at the federal level right now? Correct (80%): Republicans UN Political knowledge *un1. Who is the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN)? See: http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/ Correct (53%): (Kofi A.) Annan (indep first name) *un2. What are six of the countries on the security council of the UN? see: http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_members.html Correct (42%) Any 6 of: France, Russian Federation, UK, US, China and 10 non- permanent members at the time, namely Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Germany, Guinea, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic. *un3. Can you name three other UN organizations or bodies, other than the security council? see: http://www.un.org/aboutun/chart.html Correct (29%) any 3 of: general assembly, FAO (food and agriculture organization), UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), UNHCR (UN high commissioner for refugees), WHO (World Health Organization), UNHCHR (UN high commisioner for human rights), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission), International court of justice (ICJ), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission [to deal with Iraq]), World Food Programme (WFP), UNICT task force (UN Information & Communication Technologies Task Force), bioethics committee (of UNESCO), UNSCO (Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories). *un4. Do you think Australia is a member of the security council? Correct (80%): no. Iraq Political Knowledge [Participants’ median = 5/10] *iraq1. Can you name the former president of Iraq before the war? Correct (60%): (Saddam) Hussein Partially correct: plausible misspelling of last name or 1st name. *iraq2. What are two countries that border Iraq? see eg http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iraq_pol99.jpg Correct (87%): Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait *iraq3. Can you name three other Iraqi politicians or religious leaders?. see e.g. http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/governing_council.html Correct (0%) Any 3 of: (former deputy prime minister Tariq) Aziz; Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein (sons of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi political figures); Mohammed Sayeed Al- Sahhaf (former information minister); Masood Barzani (President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP; now a member of the governing council); (Ahmed) Chalabi (who led an opposition group in exile, the Iraqi National Congress, and is now a member of the governing council). *iraq4. Can you name three ethnic or religious groups that are important in Iraqi politics right now? see e.g. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html Correct (49%) Any 3 of: Baath party, Ethnic groups: Arab, Kurdish, Turkoman, Assyrian or other; Religions: Muslim (Shi'a, Sunni), Christian. .