Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Political Socialization Daily
Dilemma: The death penalty should be outlawed. Agree or
disagree.
Slide 2
Death Penalty The death penalty is very popular in the U.S.
thought it is outlawed in two-thirds of the worlds countries
including every Western democracy
Slide 3
Public Opinion. Collective attitude of the citizens on a given
issue or question
Slide 4
Characteristics of Public Opinion 1.The publics attitude toward
a given government policy can vary over time 2.Public opinion
places boundaries on allowable types of public policy (beheading is
not ok) 3.If asked, citizens will register an opinion outside of
their expertise 4.Governments ten to respond to public opinion
5.The government sometimes does not do what people want
Slide 5
Public Opinion and the Models of Democracy Majoritarian The
government should do what a majority of people wants Assumes a
majority of people hold clear, consistent opinions on government
policy Because government policy sometimes runs against majority
opinion, its easy to attack this model as a description of reality
Pluralist Framers didnt want a government totally responsive to
majority opinion. Didnt trust the public to make public policy
Public rarely has clear, consistent opinions on day-to-day
government Believes the public is often uninformed and ambivalent
about specific issues
Slide 6
Sample Accuracy Is determined by 3 things: 1.How the sample is
selected. For maximum accuracy, the sample must be selected
randomly. 2.The larger the sample is, the more accurately it
represents the population 3.The amount of variation in the
population. If there were no variation, every sample would be
perfectly accurate
Slide 7
Distribution of Public Opinion Mode: Most frequent response
Stable distribution: shows little change over time.
Slide 8
SKEWED: An asymetrical but generally bell- shaped distribution
(of opinions). The most common response lies off to one side
Slide 9
A distribution (of opinions) that shows two responses being
chosen about as frequently as one another Bimodal Distribution
Slide 10
Normal Distribution A symmetrical bell-shaped distribution (of
opinions) centered on a single mode, or most frequent response
Slide 11
What distribution do our test scores resemble?
Slide 12
Interesting Facts Historically, the ideological distribution of
the public has been skewed toward conservatism in every
presidential election since 1964 In 1958 only 4% of Americans
approved of interracial marriage. By 2007 77% approved.
Slide 13
Political Socialization Complex process by which people acquire
their political values
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdJ2URru0Lw
Slide 14
Principles that Characterize Early Learning Primacy Principle:
What is learned first is learned best Structuring Principle: What
is learned first structures later learning The extent of the
influence of any socializing agent depends on the extent of our
exposure to it, our communication with it and our receptivity to
it
Slide 15
Family In most cases, exposure, communication and receptivity
are highest in parent-child relationships. Children learn a wide
range of social, moral, religious, economic and political values
from parents Party identification starts with imitation, however
this doesnt always follow directly because parents are less
deliberate about exposing their children to political parties and
political parties themselves dont actively socialize kids (Sunday
school model)
Slide 16
School Elementary schools prepare children to accept the social
order. Students also take part in political rituals. High schools
work to build good citizens, asking students to think critically
about American government and politics while teaching civic
responsibility Colleges teach courses that stimulate critical
thinking for students, asking them to hone and question their own
values
Slide 17
Community & Peers Community: People of all ages with whom
you come in contact because they live or work near you Peers:
friends, classmates and coworkers Homogenous communities can exert
strong pressures on both children and adults to conform to the
dominant attitude
Slide 18
Continuing Socialization As parental and school influences wane
into adulthood, peer groups assume a greater importance in
promoting political awareness and developing political opinions
Values change, reflecting self-interest, as voters age. People
become more supportive of Social Security spending (out of
self-interest) and more likely to continue voting (out of
habit)
Slide 19
Social Groups and Political Values People with similar
backgrounds share similar experiences and tend to develop similar
political opinions. Sharp differences in attitudes based on
education, income, region, race, religion and sex.
Slide 20
Education Higher education promotes tolerance of unpopular
opinions and behavior and invites citizens to see issues in terms
of civil rights and liberties. People with more education are more
aware of political issues. When confronted with the order vs.
freedom debate, college-educated individuals often choose
freedom
Slide 21
Income In many countries, differences in social class based on
social background and occupation divide peoples politics Wealth is
linked to opinions favoring a limited government role in promoting
equality Groups with higher education and income favor freedom over
order
Slide 22
Region In recent decades, the movement of people and wealth
away from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sunbelt states in the
South and Southwest has equalized per capita income of various
regions
Slide 23
Race & Ethnicity During the early 1900s immigrants formed a
base of the Democratic Party African Americans are more likely to
identify with the Democratic party. In the 2008 election, 95% of
African Americans voted for Obama. At the national level, Latinos
have lagged behind African Americans in mobilizing and gaining
political office
Slide 24
Issues of Equality Members of minority groups display somewhat
similar political attitudes on issues of equality 1.Racial
minorities (except 2 nd generation Asian immigrants) tend to have
low socioeconomic status (position in society based on education,
occupational status and income) 2.Minorities have been targets of
prejudice and discrimination and have benefited from government
actions in support of equality
Slide 25
Religion & Gender Religious beliefs can influence the way
people feel about social order (the abortion debate) Gender impacts
political beliefs. Women frequently are more supportive of men of
affirmative action and government spending on on social programs
and are less supportive of the death penalty
Slide 26
Presidential Opinion Polling
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/ 170917611.html
Study the polls around the room and complete the information sheet
with your group members.
Slide 27
From Values to Ideology Most voters tend not to use ideological
concepts when discussing politics. The tendency to use ideological
terms in discussing politics grows with increased education.
Liberals support economic intervention to promote economic equality
while conservatives favor less government intervention and more
individual freedom in economic activities
Slide 28
In short Liberals support equality over freedom, but oppose
surrendering freedom for order Conservatives do not necessarily
oppose equality but put a higher value on freedom than on equality.
Conservatives are not above restricting freedom when threatened
with the loss of order
Slide 29
Ideological Types in the U.S. One reason so many Americans
classify themselves as conservative on a one-dimensional scale is
that they have no option to classify themselves as libertarian.
Communitarians are prominent among blacks and Latinos and among
people with no high school degree, people who look favorably on the
benefits of government Many people define themselves as moderate
because they are liberal on some issues and conservative on
others
Slide 30
Political Knowledge In particular, women, African Americans,
the poor and the young tend to be substantially less knowledgeable
about politics than are men, whites, the affluent and older
citizens. Delli Carpini and Keeter
Slide 31
Self-Interest Principle People choose what benefits them
personally
Slide 32
Issue framing The way that politicians or interest group
leaders define an issue when presenting it to others Reduction in
taxes Returning money to people versus reducing government services
SPIN the framing of issues by politicians and the media