Transcript Values and Ideology in American Political Culture

Values and Ideology in
American Political Culture
See Me
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Matt Story
Marvin Kelly
Ryan Cole
Cesar Ahuyon
Ashley Bitonel
Twana Ellis
Daniel Fried
Amanda Jung
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John Kantz
Takako Kimura
Robert Martino
Tyler Richards
Kimberly Rutherford
Kenneth Sutton
Lenis Warren
Last Time . . .
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Discussed core values of liberty,
equality, and popular sovereignty
(democracy)
Collectively: “classical liberalism”
Values: basic beliefs about how the
world works / ought to work
Values to Ideology
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Values reflect general world-view,
implications beyond the political
Ideology is a cohesive set of beliefs
about the role of government
Modern Political Ideologies
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Libertarianism
Modern Conservatism
Modern Liberalism
Statism
Libertarianism
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Most closely tied to classical liberalism
Emphasis on individual autonomy and
self-determination
Government should stay out of
economic and social/moral sphere
Modern Conservatism
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Government should stay out of
economic sphere
More limited notion of equality of
opportunity
Government regulation of morality is
critical
Modern Liberalism
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Government may intrude on economic
sphere and, more generally, to create
true equality of opportunity
Government should allow selfdetermination in moral/social sphere
Statism
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Not often mentioned in political
discourse, but the predominant ideology
in this class!
Government may regulate both
economics and morality
Regulation justified by fairness in the
process
Class Ideology
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Political Compass
Measures beliefs about government
control over
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Economic behavior
Personal/social/moral behavior
Class Ideology
Class Ideology
10
8
Social Liberal/Authoritarianism
6
4
2
0
-10
-5
0
-2
-4
-6
-8
-10
Economic Liberal/Conservative
5
10
Political Socialization
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Family
Social group membership
Education
Prevailing political conditions
Family
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Even w/out explicit political discourse
Core values conveyed
Social Group Membership
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Religion
Race
Gender
Socio-economic Status
Occupational Groups
Regional Influences
Education
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Civic education in elementary and
secondary schools
Post-secondary education
Prevailing Political Conditions
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Mediates effects of family, group
membership, and education
Break
Values  Ideology 
Attitudes
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Values: Basic principles about how the world
works or how the world ought to work
Ideology: A coherent set of beliefs about the
proper role of government
Political Attitudes: An individual’s specific
preference on a particular political issue
Public Opinion: An aggregate measure of
people’s individual political attitudes on an
issue or issues
Why do we care?
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Popular sovereignty
Reelection
Where do attitudes come
from?
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Ideology/Values
+
Knowledge
+
Self-interest
Where do attitudes come
from?
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Ideology/Values
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Socialization
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Education
Family
Events
Group membership
+
Knowledge
+
Self-interest
Problems with relying on
public opinion
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Many people lack political knowledge
Attitudes not “ideological” (no apparent
pattern)
Attitudes seem to shift from day to day
Difficult to measure reliably
The problem of political
knowledge
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Connect values/ideology to real life
preferences
Implications/consequences of
preferences
Political Knowledge Quiz
Who was President during the
Civil War?
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Answer: Abraham Lincoln
% Correct: 84%
What are the two major
political parties in the U.S.?
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Answer: Democrats and Republicans
% Correct: 100%
In what month is the new
President inaugurated?
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Answer: January
% Correct: 50%
How many terms may a U.S.
Senator serve?
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Answer: Unlimited
% Correct: 28%
How many Supreme Court
Justices are there?
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Answer: 9
% Correct: 37%
How long is a term for a
member of the House of
Representatives?
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Answer: 2 years
% Correct: 52%
What are the first 10
Amendments to the
Constitution called?
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Answer: The Bill of Rights
% Correct: 93%
Who becomes President if both
the President and VicePresident die?
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Answer: Speaker of the House
% Correct: 36%
Who is the Governor of Texas?
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Answer: Rick Perry
% Correct: 82%
Who has the power to declare
war?
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Answer: Congress
% Correct: 54%
Why are people uninformed?
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Information costs
Mitigated by
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Education
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Easier to get information
Political efficacy – duty
Issue publics
Attitudes not ideological
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Frustrating for our government, but is it
a problem?
Attitudes Unstable
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Why?
Most attitudes not stored – depend on
“top of the head” assessment
Most “regular people” are pragmatists –
lies are bad, but lying to your friend
about her new haircut is o.k.
Miracle of Aggregation
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“Solves” the knowledge and instability
problems
With a large enough sample, our
mistakes cancel each other out
Next Class
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Paper Due
Measuring Public Opinion
“What’s a politician to do?”
Quiz Review Sheet