Public Opinion & Political Action Chapter 6

Public Opinion  Def. The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues.

The American People  Demography- The science of population changes  Census- most valuable tool for understanding demographic changes in America. This is done every 10 years. Changes in U.S. population impact our culture and political system in numerous ways.

The Immigrant Society  Federal law allows about 1 million new immigrants to be legally admitted to the country every year.  Recent years illegal immigrants have outnumbered legal immigrants but in the past few years has slowed to under 400,000 per year. This is like adding a new city of illegals every year to America.

The Immigrant Society cont’  3 Great Ways of immigration to the United States Before 19 th century, northwestern Europeans constituted the first wave of immigrants. (English, Irish, Germans) During 19 th & 20 th century, southern and eastern Europeans made up much of the second wave. (Italians, Jews, Poles, Russians and others) Recently decades, third wave of immigrants consisted of Hispanics and Asians.

Figure 6.1

The American Melting Pot  Melting Pot- The mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation.  Minority Majority- that America will eventually cease to have a White, generally Anglo-Saxon majority.  Political Culture- overall set of values widely shared within a society.

The Regional Shift  Reapportionment- The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census.

The Graying of America  Nationwide, the fastest-growing age-group in America is composed of citizens over 65.  Social Security is structured as a pay-as-you-go system Today’s workers pay the benefits for today’s retirees. In 1940, there were 42 workers per retiree; today there are three.

How Americans Learn About Politics: Political Socialization  Political Socialization- the process through which an individual acquires his or her particular orientations- his or her knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his or her political world.

The Process of Political Socialization  Formal learning Government and History classes Only tip of iceberg, most Americans do most of their political learning without teachers or classes.  Informal learning The Family- Central because of 2 crucial resources in the early years: time and emotional commitment. The Mass Media- “the new parent”

Political Learning over a Lifetime

Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information  How Polls Are Conducted Sample- relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole Random sampling- which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected as part of the sample Sampling Error- level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. Random-digit dialing- technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey

The Role of Polls in American Democracy  Polls help political candidates detect public preferences.  Polls can also weaken democracy by distorting the election process. Creating bandwagon effect  Polls play to the media’s interest in who’s ahead in the race.  Exit Poll- Public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision Most widely criticized type of poll

What Polls Reveal About Americans’ Political Information  Americans don’t know as much as they should know about politics.  American political system works as well as it does given the discomforting lack of public knowledge about politics.

The Decline of Trust in Government  Figure 6.4 [ ]

What Americans Value: Political Ideologies  Political ideology- A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political events, personalities, and policies.

Who Are the Liberals and Conservatives?

Do People Think in Ideological Terms?  Ideologues- (12%) these people could connect their opinions and beliefs with broad policy positions taken by parties or candidates. Meaning the party they vote for matches their own beliefs.  Group benefit voters- (42%) these people thought of politics mainly in terms of the groups they liked or disliked. What group do you want to see benefit and who do you want to see go without.  Nature of the times voters- (24%) handle on politics was limited to whether the times seemed good or bad to them. Blame who is in power for everything and vote someone new in.  No issue content group- (22% ) most of them simply voted routinely for a party or judged the candidates solely by their personalities or characteristics. Vote for some one because they are cute, black, white, or just maybe from their state etc…

Attitudes Toward Gays and Lesbians

How Americans Participate in Politics  Political Participation- encompasses the many activities in which citizens engage to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue.

Types of Participation  Conventional Participation- accepted modes of influencing government. Ex] voting, trying to persuade others, ringing doorbells for petition, running for office, etc.  Unconventional Participation- often dramatic Ex] protesting, civil disobedience, and even violence

Protest as Participation  Protest- designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics  Civil disobedience- reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.

Class, Inequality, and Participation  The rates of political participation are unequal among Americans. “citizens of higher social economic status participate more in politics…”

Class, Inequality, and Participation cont’

Understanding Public Opinion and Political Action  There are many limits on the role public opinion plays in the American political system.  Average person not well informed about political issue.  The fact that public opinion is often contradictory in this respect sometimes leads to policy gridlock because it is hard for politicians to know which aspect of the public’s attitudes to respond to.