Political Socialization: Forming Political Beliefs and Opinions The importance placed on public opinion and information gathering techniques should be made abundantly clear. Like any science, simple observation is not enough. Looking out across the plain may lead us to believe that the earth is flat, or driving past a poor neighborhood may lead one to believe the inhabitants are lazy, unskilled, or unintelligent. This obviously, to a social scientist, is not the case. It must be emphasized that there is a difference in one’s casual opinion (even backed by hours of listening to talk radio or watching CNN, FOX and MSNBC) and scientific consensus. One of the most frustrating obstacles those in the social sciences run into is students who think what we teach is simply opinion—as if the effectiveness of social welfare programs, tax policies, affirmative action, etc., cannot be objectively determined by hard data. It is often said that polls can be made to say anything. That’s true—if you don’t know how to read them. Knowing how to read polls, and being able to discern good polling questions from bad ones, and what the answers mean is a learned skill. Political Socialization: Forming Political Beliefs and Opinions 1

Forming Political Opinions How do we form political opinions? Photo Caption: Does religion influence public opinion? There is a strong correlation between individuals’ religious identification and their views on political issues. Here, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of Catholics worldwide. Many Catholics believe strongly in the social justice values of the Democratic Party. Demographic Characteristics Gender Race and Ethnicity Age Religion Institutions Family School Mass media Cues from Leaders President Congress Political Knowledge Political illiteracy 2

AGENTS OF POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

FAMILY Major role in party affiliation Polls show that the majority of young people identify with their parents' political party. Process begins early in life (10-11 yrs old) Individuals generally become more independent as they grow older. Growing number of voters identify as "independents" rather than Democrats or Republicans.

FAMILY The more politically active your family, the more likely you are to hold the same beliefs.  For example: Most members of the Kennedy family are Democrats Most Bush family members are Republicans All Balanda family members are Democrat

GENDER 1920s Party affiliation affected by gender women first began to vote more likely to support the Republican Party than men. Republicans party of “hearth and home” Continued in 1930s even though more women began to support FDR’s Democratic party

GENDER 1960s: Birth of the Gender Gap Women began to support Democrats more than men RESULT: GENDER GAPWHY? The modern women's rights movement & Democrats' tendency to support “women’s issues” equal opportunity for women abortion rights welfare programs

Do men and women think differently about political issues?

MARRIED v. UNMARRIED Zogby Poll Gender gap is not as significant as the gap between married and unmarried voters  Found that on most issues single and married voters were often 25-30 points different! Singles more likely to vote Democratic Married voters more likely to vote Republican

RELIGION RECENT TRENDS Protestants are more conservative on economic matters than Catholics and Jews Jews tend to be more liberal on both economic and social issues than are Catholics or Protestants Catholics tend to be more liberal on economic issues than they are on social issues

RELIGION Fundamentalist Christians Tend to support more conservative candidates More likely to contribute to the Republicans than Democrats Concern stronger for social issues than for foreign affairs and economic issues. Overall Churchgoers more likely to vote for Republicans Non-churchgoers more likely to support Democrats

EDUCATION Education up to the undergraduate level increases both a person's chances of being liberal and of voting Republican. WHAT? HUH? Contradiction Trend  moderate voters tend to become more conservative as they become more economically prosperous.

EDUCATION College education influences individuals to be more liberal on social & economic issues than they were before college. The longer students stay in college, the more prestigious the institution they attend  the more liberal they become. Post-graduate level liberals outnumber conservatives Majority vote Democratic

Ideological self-identifications of first-year college students

What is the extent of Americans’ political knowledge? Are we politically illiterate? How much impact does this have public opinion?

RACE & ETHNICITY Black Americans tend to identify with the Democrats and are a consistently liberal group.   In recent presidential elections, blacks have voted in overwhelming numbers (90%+) for the Democratic candidate. Hispanic Americans tend to be more liberal with a tendency to affiliate with the Democratic Party. The correlation appears to be weaker than that of black Americans

RACE & ETHNICITY White Americans tend to be more conservative (especially men) and to affiliate with the Republican Party The Republican candidate has received nearly 60% of the white American vote in the last 3 elections This accounts for a 70%+ share of voters nationally

Classifications of Voters (The American Voter, 1950) Ideologues - 12 % of the people connect their opinions and beliefs to policy positions by candidates and parties. vote primarily along ideological lines. Group benefits voters - 42% of the people vote for parties based on which one they thought would benefit groups they belonged to or supported. Nature of the times voters - 24% of the people link good times or bad times to one political party or the other and vote accordingly. No issue content - 22% of the people have no issue-based or ideological reasons for voting for a party or a candidate. That Mitt Romney is a real looker! He’s got my vote!

Election Results by Income Level

Election Results by Age Group

Election Results by Race & Gender

2012 Election Results