Public Opinion

1
Public Opinion

• Ch 7 AP Government

2
Defined

• Public opinion is the opinion of a significant
  number of people on an issue
• Middle America middle class
• Silent majority conservatives

3
Limits on Public Opinion

• Many publics
• Many opinions
• Ignorance, do not know the issue
• Regionality (urban-rural)
• Culture/class differences
• Methods of measuring

4
Where does your opinion come from?

• Family 1
• Friends
• School
• Religious beliefs
• Economic/social status
• Education
• Gender

5
Cleavages

• Differences
• Why a person doesnt fit into one group
• Social class
• Race/ethnicity
• Region (where you live)

6
Polling

• Straw pollsnot very accurate
• Simple questions
• Scientific pollingvery accurate
• Small number of people needed to poll the entire
  nation

7
Scientific Polling

• 5 parts
• Determine universe
• Determine sample
• Write valid questions
• Conduct valid poll
• Analyze/report results

8
Public Opinion and Ideology

• Opinions are general
• Ideologies narrow it down
• Political Ideology
• Definition a consistent set of beliefs on issues
  and politics.

9
Political Ideology

• Liberal
• Conservative
• Consistent stance on economic and social issues
• Can be mixed

10
Variations of Ideology

• Pure Liberals
• Sliberal
• Eliberal

• Libertarians
• Sliberal
• Econservative

• Populists
• Sconservative
• Eliberal

• Pure Conservatives
• SConservative
• EConservative

11
Elites

• Do not fit into one of the 4 categories of
  ideology
• Have a connection to government or great
  influence by/on it.
• Affect the public agenda