September 12th Happy Laughing Day

 The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues Public Opinion

 1 st Wave: Northwestern Europeans  2 nd Wave: Southern and Eastern Europeans  Most recent wave: Hispanic (Cuba, Central America and Mexico) and Asians (Vietnam, Korea, the Phillippines)  Can shape public opinion and policy!! Immigration Waves

 The situation (likely in the mid-21 st century) in which non-Hispanic whites will represent a minority of the U.S. population  Minority groups together will represent a majority  Page graph Minority Majority

 The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census. Reapportionment

 The process through which individuals in a society acquire political attitudes, views, and knowledge, based on inputs from family, schools, the media and others Political Socialization

Family: potentially genetic, time and emotional commitment The Mass Media: t.v. displaces parents as the chief source of info as children get older. – Younger people are NOT watching the news as much (median age is 61!) School: promoting the basic values of America?? – German textbook example: pg. 175 – Better educated citizens = more likely to vote Process of Political Socialization

 In your notes or on a piece of scrap paper  Make a box for each category – fill it in with ideas of your political socialization. You can be specific. YOUR Political Socialization FamilyMass Media SchoolOther??

 Sample  Small proportion of ppl to represent whole  Random sampling – needed for accuracy  Equal probability to be selected  Sampling Error  Level of confidence in poll Specifics…

 Help candidates understand public preferences  Tool for democracy  Public wants to be heard Polling in the U.S. – Why?

 Figure 6.3  50s and early 60s most trusting the gov’t  Post Vietnam and Watergate – DECLINE in the trust in gov’t to do the right thing  Look at 2010…  NOW – let’s look at current polls out there.  What we’ve found out...