PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

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PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

• How American democracy works depends largely on
  who participates and how.

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POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

• The process in which individuals acquire the
  information, beliefs, attitudes and values that
  help them comprehend the workings of a political
  system and orient themselves within it.

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Political Socialization and Other Factors That
Influence Opinion Formation

• Political attitudes are grounded in values. We
  learn our values by a process known as political
  socialization.
• Many factors influence opinion formation.
• The Family
• The Mass Media
• School and Peers
• The Impact of Events

• Social/economic groups
• Religion, Race,
• Education, Income,
• Gender, Region

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Political Socialization
Political socialization is the process by which
we learn about the world of politics and develop
our political beliefs.
The Role of Family

• While most children tend to adopt the political
  beliefs of their parents, they may adjust those
  beliefs to adapt to a changing world as they get
  older.

Questions for Reflection Have you ever been
contacted by pollsters for your opinion on
political issues on a national, state, or local
level? Did you comply with their request for your
feedback? If not, why, and would you reconsider
your decision based on the impact polls have on
our democratic system?
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Schooling

• The most powerful institutional influence on
  children, outside of the family, is education.

Peers

• We all absorb the ideas and outlooks of our
  contemporaries, especially when we are young.
• Peer groups affect political attitudes on those
  few issues of interest to young people.

Television

• The values conveyed by television become a part
  of our culture.
• Viewers absorb these values and unconsciously
  draw on them when thinking about politics.

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Social Variables That Influence Opinion Formation
Different social circumstances also influence the
formation of political opinions.

• Class
• Our relative standing in society shapes many of
  our social and political values.

• Income
• Although mitigated through education, income has
  an impact on how one views the political world.
• Very roughly stated, poor people tend to vote for
  Democrats (the more liberal party on economic
  policy) while richer people tend to vote
  Republican.

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• Race and Ethnicity
• Race and ethnicity influence political attitudes
  and behaviors which are clearly evident.
• African Americans, for example, are generally
  more alienated from politics than whites.
• Those who are active politically tend to identify
  with the Democratic party.
• Hispanics tend to vote Democratic, with the
  exception of Cuban-Americans, who tend to be very
  conservative.
• As a general rule, ethnic groups become
  conservative as they rise in social status.

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Religion

• Religious differences produce serious political
  conflict in the United States.
• Generally speaking, the more religious one is,
  the more conservative one is likely to be.

Region

• Some areas of the United States, such as the
  South, are very conservative.

Bob Jones University has been a traditional stop
for Republicans during the South Carolina
primary. In 2000, however, George W. Bushs visit
prompted outcries from John McCain and others
because of the universitys position on
interracial dating and the founders statements
about Catholics.
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Gender

• Gender shapes our political views as well, with
  men and women taking very different views on many
  of the issues of our day.
• The gender gap reflects the difference in the
  political opinions of men and women.

• A New Political Typology
• In addition to fighting each other, both
  Democrats and Republicans now find their parties
  internally divided over such issues as national
  security, religion, and moral values.

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American Political Culture
American political perspectives are shaped by
three key variables core values, political
ideology, and culture and lifestyle.

• Core Values
• There is broad support among Americans for such
  core values as liberty, equality, and the ideals
  of the Constitution.
• Americans and Intolerance
• Some claim that tolerance of diverse beliefs and
  practices is another core American value.
• Public opinion data suggest that it may be
  intolerance that has become a core value.

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Political Ideology

• Political ideology is a coherent way of viewing
  politics and government.
• It provides an overarching frame around which to
  organize our political beliefs and attitudes.
• The most common political ideologies among
  Americans are liberalism and conservativism.

Culture and Lifestyle

• Ones culture and lifestyle will also influence
  ones politics because such views emerge from
  specific life experiences.

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The State of American Public Opinion
Political Awareness and Involvement

• Some scholars argue that because the average
  American is only minimally interested in
  politics, he or she is also only minimally
  informed.
• Others disagree, arguing that Americans make
  choices about the information they obtain and
  have enough information to rationally distinguish
  between political alternatives.

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What is Public Opinion?

• Public opinion is 'what the people think about an
  issue or set of issues at any given point in
  time' and opinions are normally measured by
  opinion polls.

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Public Opinion and Democracy
Public opinion is the keystone of democracy. If
the masses are inactive or if their leaders
consistently ignore their desires, democracy
falters.
What Is Public Opinion?

• Public opinion is the collective expression of
  attitudes about the prominent issues and actors
  of the day.
• Plato believed that public opinion was good only
  when it reflected the will of the state and its
  rulers.
• Mill argued that individuals should have maximum
  liberty to express their opinions.
• Madison recognized the importance of allowing
  people to express their views but also recognized
  that competing opinions could lead to hostile
  factions.

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Opinion Polls

• Polls are interviews or surveys of a sample of
  citizens used to estimate how the public feels
  about an issue or set of issues.

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Qualities of Public Opinion

• Intensity - the strength of a position for or
  against a public policy or an issue
• Fluidity - the extent to which public opinion
  changes over time
• Stability - the extent to which public opinion
  remains constant over a period of time
• Relevance - the extent to which an issue is of
  concern at a particular time
• Political Knowledge

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How We Form Political Opinions
Political Opinions
Personal Beliefs
Political Knowledge
Cues From Leaders
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Measuring Public Opinion
Whether or not poll results accurately reflect
the views of the general population depends on
several factors

• Size Generally, the larger the sample, the
  better, because larger samples reduce the margin
  of error.
• Random Sampling In a random sample, every person
  in the population being surveyed must have an
  equal chance of being in the sample.
• Sampling bias leads to biased results.

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• Reliability Pollsters must pay specific
  attention to question wording, question type, and
  interviewer training in order to obtain results
  that are meaningful and consistent.
• The Importance of Polls Polls have emerged as
  integral to American politics.
• Public officials constantly refer to them during
  their decision-making processes.
• Interest groups commission polls to show public
  support for their position.
• The media relies on polls to track campaign
  winners and losers.

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Approaching Democracy
Landon Defeats Roosevelt

• In 1936, the Literary Digest predicted
  Roosevelts defeat by Republican opponent, Alfred
  Landon.
• The polls turned out to be wrong and Roosevelt
  won by garnering 61 of the popular vote
• The Digest was wrong because it used a biased
  sample, using surveys sent to automobile owners
• Only the wealthiest people owned cars
• Wealthier people tend to be better educated
• The wealthier and more educated a person is, the
  more likely it is that the person will vote
  Republican
• Poll participants were self-selected because they
  wanted to send a message of defeat to Roosevelt

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How We Measure Public Opinion

• In general, do not trust a poll that does not
  tell you the question wording, the sampling
  method, and the ways in which respondents were
  contacted.
• Reputable pollsters will also tell you the number
  of respondents (the 'n') and the error rate ( or
  - 5).
• Any poll that tells you to call 555-5554 for yes
  and 555-5555 for no is unscientific and
  unreliable. This is not a random sample at all!

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Judge the reliability (dangers)

• Who sponsored the poll?
• Who did the polling?
• Was was interviewed? How many?
• What questions were asked?
• How/when were the interviews conducted?
• Are all the results based o the entire sample?

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Types of Polls

• Tracking polls--continuous surveys that enable a
  campaign to chart its daily rise and fall in
  popularity. These may be a decent measure of
  trends.
• Exit polls--polls conducted at polling places on
  election day.
• Deliberative polls--a new kind of poll first
  tried in 1996. A relatively large scientific
  sample of Americans (600) were selected for
  intensive briefings, discussions, and
  presentations about issue clusters including
  foreign affairs, the family, and the economy.
• A deliberative poll attempts to measure what the
  public would think if they had better
  opportunities to thoughtfully consider the issues
  first.

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From Public Opinion to Public Policy

• The policies pursued by the American government
  will not always reflect the popular will of the
  people.
• Yet, the fact that these policies appear to be
  reasonably close to the general direction of
  public opinion suggests that over time, public
  opinions can be translated into governmental
  policy.