Political Socialization Why do we believe what we believe?

Political Ideology Cohesive set of beliefs about Politics Public Policy, and the Role of the Government

Liberal v. Conservative Government Regulation in Economy Deregulation in the Economy Expanded Social Welfare Decrease Social Welfare programs National Healthcare Reduction Government influence in Healthcare Pro Choice Pro Life Lower Taxes on Middle Class, raise taxes on the Wealthiest Lower taxes across the Board

Political Socialization The process of which political values are formed and passed from one generation to the next. NUMBER ONE FACTOR!!!!! *******FAMILY**** Other Factors

Gender Examples More men support military More women consider sexual harassment a serious problem Since ’60s, women vote Dem more than men, and vice versa Not as significant of an indicator as marriage (married vs. unmarried)

Religion Example Protestants are more conservative on economic matters than Catholics or Jews Jews tend to be liberal on economic and social issues than Catholics or Protestants Catholics tend to be more liberal on economic issues than they are on social issues (Catholics becoming more conservative)

Race and Ethnicity Examples African Americans – 90% Democrats Hispanic Americans – tend to affiliate with Democrats, but less likely than African Americans Asian Americans – less liberal than Hispanic Americans or African Americans, but still consistently vote Democrat White, more divided, fluctuates by election

Geographic Region Example East and West Coasts – more liberal Mid-West – more conservative Urban - liberal South – 1870-1950s - Democrat “Solid South” but today they are primarily social conservatives White Southerner always less liberal

Political Socialization Political attitudes are grounded in values. We learn these values by a process known as political socialization. Many factors influence opinion formation What are the factors that influence opinion?

Recently Seen on the AP Exam Jewish People are more Liberal while Protestants are more Conservative Whites are more Conservative while African Americans are more Liberal Women are more likely to be democrats while men are more likely to be Republicans Southern Citizens are more likely to be conservative while Northern Citizens are more likely to be democratic

The Mass Media In 2004 over 40 percent of those polled regularly learned about the election of candidates from The Tonight Show, The Late Show, or The Daily Show

The Mass Media Because of this Candidates are starting to go to popular talk shows to get their points to the public Trump and Clinton were on with Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert

Social Media

Public Opinion “ Is what the people think about an issue or set of issues at any given point in time” Normally measured by polls Interviews or surveys of a sampling of people What are the problems of public opinion polling?

Public Opinion The distribution of individual attitudes about a particular issue, candidate, political institution, etc.

George Gallup Developed “Gallup Polls” Started in 1932 1st “pollster” Since 1936, agency has picked one general election result incorrect

Sampling Representative – must mirror population you want answer about Random – give everyone an equal possibility of being sampled Wording – questions can’t be leading Straw poll – poor polling technique

Good or Bad Polls Word Questioning A question which is poorly worded can result in flawed polls. EX. Are you for or against killing innocent babies? 95% or Americans are against abortion

Sampling You can’t poll everyone so you must find a way to get a sampling of people. This can be taken advantage of by manipulating the sampling pool. Best way to take a reliable sample is a scientific random sample A method of a poll selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected What is the problem with this?

Sampling Stratified Sampling- Using census data are used to divide the country into four sampling regions. Sets of countries and standard metropolitan statistical areas are then randomly selected in proportion to the total national population Quota System- In which a pollster makes sure the survey represents the make up of the city or county. 30% African American 15% Latino

Other Polls Push Poll: telephone polls with ulterior motives; designed to give respondents some negative or even untruthful information about a candidate’s opponent to push them away from that candidate and toward the one paying for the poll. Tracking Poll: conducted every 24 hours; small sample size Exit Polls: conducted at selected polling places on Election Day.