Chapter Six Public Opinion

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Chapter SixPublic OpinionPolitical
Socialization
Instructor Kevin Sexton Course U.S. Political
Systems Southeast Missouri State University
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What is Public Opinion?
The aggregation of peoples views about issues,
situations, and public figures.
and.or..
those opinions held by private persons which
government finds it prudent to heed.
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Sources of Public Opinion

• Socialization
• Personal Experience
• Self-Interest
• Education
• Reference Groups
• The Media

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Characteristics of Public Opinion
Public Opinion Is

• Uninformed
• Inconsistent
• Non-Ideological

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Ideology versus Ideologue

• Ideology a comprehensive, organized set of
  beliefs, values and set of views about government
  and politics.
• Ideologue an impractical idealist, an often
  blindly partisan advocate or follower of a
  particular ideology.

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Classic Liberalism
Philosophy that attempted to free individuals
from the societal structure that was dominated by
religious and hereditary privileges. 1. It
placed a great deal of emphasis on empowering the
individual. ie. Hobbes and Lockes ideas
relating to the relationship between the
government and the governed. 2. Government
should be involved in the life of individual
citizens as little as possible.
Modern American Liberalism and Modern American
Conservatism are both outgrowths of Classic
Liberalism. They both believe that government
should stay out of certain portions of our lives.
The difference is found when we look at what
portion of our lives each group would like to
protect from government involvement.
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Modern Day AmericanConservatism Liberalism
Modern Day Conservatism

• 1. Believe government should not be deeply
  involved in the economic decisions.
• ie. Believe deeply in the free-market or supply
  and demand economics.
• Believe government should be involved in
  clarifying societal positions on moral
• issues.
• ie. Abortion, Stem Cell Research, Right to Die,
  Homosexual Marriage
• 3. Republicans would be considered an example of
  a modern day conservative group.

Modern Day Liberalism

• Believe government should not be deeply involved
  in societal moral issues. We should each
• be allowed to develop our own moral
  boundaries.
• Believe government should be involved in economic
  decisions, in order to ensure a more
• equitable distribution of wealth is
  achieved.
• ie. Adheres more to Keynesian Economic
  Principles.
• 3. Democrats would be considered an example of
  a modern day liberal group.

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US Political Spectrum
Moderate Middle of the Road
Ideologues
Ideologues
Right
Left
Most Politicians Fall In This Range on The
Spectrum
Democrat
Republican
Liberal
Conservative
Most Americans Fall In This Range on The Spectrum
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Ideology versus Ideologue (cont.)

• Things to remember
• ALL Americans have an ideology.
• NOT ALL Americans are ideologues.
• Most Politicians are not ideologues
• Because ideologues are considered more extreme
  and since most voters are not found at the
  extremes of the US Political Spectrum it is not
  profitable for politicians to be at the extremes.

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How is Public Opinion Measured
Polls or Polling
Scientifically measuring the occurrence of an
event within a population without measuring the
whole population.
Example
"Just thinking about a candidate's religion, do
you think you could vote for a/an (see next
slide) candidate For president, or not ?
RESULTS ON NEXT SLIDE
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Example of a Poll
Sample Error /- 3
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Population versus Sample
Current US Population is 299,150,168. Do
pollsters ask each person the poll
questions? NO. They select a random sample of
the total POPULATION. Then Mathematically
apply the findings of the sample to the total
population.
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Are Polls 100 Accurate?
No. Errors can and do happen with polls.

• Things that can cause problems with polls
• Sample Error
• Error inherent to measuring only a sample
• /- of a poll
• Selection Bias
• Size of Sample Not Representative
• Not truly random
• Measurement Error
• Confusing Questions
• Leading Questions
• Oversimplified Questions