Forming Public Opinion

Public Opinion Ideas and attitudes most people hold about an issue or person

Role of Public Opinion Shapes decisions of every president Needs support of people and Congress Understanding public opinion helps make effective, timely decisions

Diversity Different groups hold different opinions Enough people must hold a particular opinion to make government listen

Sources of Public Opinion Personal Background Personal experience Age, gender, income, race, religion, job, where you live Mass Media Ways of communicating broadly to the masses Public Officials People elected into office People indicate trust in person Interest Groups People who share views on an issue Work to persuade others to their opinion

Features of Public Opinion Direction-positive or negative opinion Intensity-strength of opinion Stability-how firm someone sticks to their views

Measuring Public Opinion Public Opinion Polls A survey of individuals Every major elected official monitors

What Do Pollsters Do? Pollster-a person whose job is to conduct polls regularly Measures popularity Random samples-wide variety of people Must be careful how they form questions Push polls Questions worded in a way to influence a person’s response

Support for polls Problems with polls Allows people to keep in touch with changing views Problems with polls Polls make public officials more concerned about pleasing rather than doing the job Affect elections: treat like a horse race: ignore issues, focus on win v. loss Discourages voting