Transcript Chapter 7
Public Opinion and Political Socialization Chapter 7 Public Opinion • Public Opinion – The collective political beliefs and attitudes of the public, or groups within the public, on matters of relevance to the government. Public Opinion • Salience – An issue’s importance to a person or to the public in general. • Stability – The speed with which a change will occur, and the likelihood that the new opinion will endure. Public Opinion • Direction – In public opinion, the tendency for or against some phenomenon. • Intensity – The strength of the direction of public opinion. Public Opinion • Consensus - General agreement among the citizenry on an issue • Divided Opinion - Public opinion that is polarized between two quite different positions Public Opinion • Sample – A subset of the whole population selected to be questioned for the purpose of prediction or gauging opinions • Population – An entire body of people, from which a sample is selected and assumed to be representative. Public Opinion • Random Sampling – A method of poll selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected • Margin of Error. – A measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll. Public Opinion • Sampling Techniques – Representative Sampling • The Principle of Randomness – Every person should have a chance of being sampled • A purely random sample will be representative within the stated margin of error. The larger the sample of the population, the smaller the margin of error. Problems with Opinion Polls • Issues respondents haven’t considered – People respond anyways to not look unintelligent • Controversial issues – Give a socially correct response rather than the truth • Opinions on things like race and gender – People will hide their racial and gender bias until entering the voting booth • Question wording – How a question is worded can greatly influence the response. Political Socialization • Political Socialization – The learning process in which individuals absorb information and selectively add it to their knowledge and understanding of politics and government. Political Socialization • Sources – The Family and the Social Environment – Education as a Source of Political Socialization – Peers and Peer Group Influence – Opinion Leaders’ Influence – Media Presentation of Political Issues Political Socialization • Political events can produce a longlasting impact on opinion formation. • Examples: Great Depression, McCarthyism, Vietnam, Watergate, Iran Contra, Lewinski-gate, Iraq War II Political Socialization • Generational Effect – Situation in which younger citizens are influenced by events in such a fashion that their attitudes and beliefs are forever rendered distinct from those of older generations. (Vietnam Era) Political Socialization • Period Effect – An event that influences the attitudes and beliefs of people of all ages who experience it. (Great Depression, September 11th) Political Ideology • Ideology – Consistent set of ideas about a given set of issues. Political Ideology • Economic Liberals - Those who believe government should do more to assist people who have difficulty meeting their economic needs on their own. • Economic Conservatives - Those who believe government tries to do too many things that should be left to firms and economic markets. Political Ideology • Social Conservatives - Those who believe government power should be used to uphold traditional values. • Social Liberals - Those who believe it is not government’s role to buttress traditional values at the expense of unconventional or new values. Political Ideology • Libertarians - Those who believe government tries to do too many things that should be left to firms and markets, and who oppose government as an instrument for upholding traditional values. - Combination of economic conservative and social liberal. Political Ideology • Populists - Those who believe government should do more to assist people who have difficulty meeting their economic needs and who look to government to uphold traditional values. - Combination of economic liberal and social conservative.