Longman PoliticalScienceInteractive Magleby & Light Government by the People Chapter 8 Public Opinion, Participation, and Voting Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

Recent Concerns about Voting Florida 2000 Contested ballots Outdated voting machines Lingering perceptions of partisanship Help America Vote Act 2002 Ohio 2004 Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

What is Public Opinion? Public Opinion The distribution of individual preferences for or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population The proper wording and phrasing of the questions are vitally important to producing reliable, objective data Appropriate language and vocabulary Neutral wording Open-ended versus closed-ended Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

The Way You Ask the Question Matters Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

What is Public Opinion? DEFINE THE FOLLOWING: Intensity Latency Salience Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

How Do We Get Our Political Opinions and Values? Political Socialization The process, most notably in families and schools, by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Agents of Socialization Family Schools Media Selective exposure: Choosing the media with which one agrees Religion Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Stability and Change in Public Opinion Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Public Opinion and Public Policy “What I want is to get done what the people desire to be done, and the question for me is how to find that out exactly.” - Abraham Lincoln Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Awareness and Interest Knowledge Levels Politics is not the major interest of most Americans, and as a result, knowledge about the political system is limited Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Awareness and Interest Attentive Public Interested in politics most of the time Know and understand how the government works Tend to be better educated and more committed to democratic values 25% of the public Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Awareness and Interest Nonvoters Rarely interested in politics and public affairs Rarely vote As much as 35% of the public Some in this category can be called “political know-nothings” Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Awareness and Interest Part-time citizens Participate selectively in elections, usually presidential only Politics and government do not greatly interest them Pay only minimal attention to the news Rarely discuss candidates or elections with others 40% of the public Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Participation: Translating Opinions into Action Only a small percentage of the American people are actively engaged in the political process, yet they receive most of the media attention Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Voting In an effort to make registration easier, states have made registration forms available at motor vehicle stations, schools, public buildings, and even highway tollbooths Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Voting Voter registration: A system designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents, including proof of residency -Reduces voter turnout -Instituted in the U.S. only in the late 1800s -Most other democracies have automatic registration -Recent reforms - “Motor Voter” bill (1993) Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Turnout Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Voter Turnout Worldwide Source: IDEA data (based on average of elections since 1945) http://www.idea.int/vt/survey/voter_turnout_pop2.cfm  

Voter Turnout in Western Democracies Average Turnout 1991-2000 Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Why People Don’t Vote Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Who Votes? Race and ethnicity Gender Age White 56.4%; Black 53.5%; Hispanic 27.5% Gender Men 53.1%; Women 56.2% Age 18 to 24 = 32.3% (1992 = 42.8%; 1996 = 32.4% 2008 = 49%) WHY??? 25 to 34 = 43.7% 38 to 44 = 55% 45 to 64 = 64.1% 65 and over = 67.6%

Mobilization Mobilizing the “base” (most loyal supporters) Mobilizing “swing voters” Canvassing Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

WOLL READING BREAK “The Responsible Electorate” Pg. 216 Why does the author argue that the “voice of the people is but an echo”? According to the author , what were the conclusions from the voting study literature about why people vote as they do? What is the importance of theories about how voters behave? What is the author’s “perverse and unorthodox argument”?

How Serious is Nonvoting? A huge army of nonvoters “hangs over the democratic process like a bomb ready to explode and change the course of history.” -Arthur Hadley “I’m not going to shed any crocodile tears if people don’t care enough to vote….I’d be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote.” - the late Senator Sam Ervin Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

How Serious is Nonvoting? Concerns about “class bias” Negative effect on Democratic candidates May indicate approval of the status quo Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Voting on the Basis of Party Party Identification An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood In the absence of reasons to vote otherwise, people depend on party identification to simplify their voting choices Dramatic increase in self-declared Independents since 1970s Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Voting on the Basis of Candidates Candidate Appeal How voters feel about a candidate’s background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities 1980s mark a critical threshold in the emergence of a candidate-centered era Increasingly, campaigns focus on the negative elements of candidates’ history and personality Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Voting on the Basis of Issues Prospective Issue Voting Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected Retrospective Issue Voting Holding incumbents responsible for past performance on issues Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

Counting Votes Until the 2000 election, Americans took the counting of ballots for granted Election officials must make judgment calls on incomplete/flawed ballots Poll workers (regular people from the neighborhood) influence the security, efficiency, and overall environment of polling locations Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman