Ch. 6: Public Opinion & Ideology Public opinion in a democracy

Political Socialization Family Schools Religious & Civic Organizations Reference groups: Primary Secondary Mass Media

Party Identification At least 60% of Americans identify with a party This psychological attachment significantly affects voters’ perceptions of issues and candidates Parties try to reinforce this attachment – party registration, e.g. Past 30 years have seen an increase in “Independents,” at the expense of the parties Party ID still the best single predictor of vote

Measuring Public Opinion Varies by Direction Intensity Saliency Stability

Measuring Public Opinion Samples and Universes Random Sampling Literary Digest: cars, telephones, & FDR Sample size & margin of error Question wording Loaded wording – see example, p. 187 Open- and closed-ended questions “Non-attitudes”

Do polls affect opinions? Bandwagon effect? Mixed evidence Do polls mobilize or demobilize voters? Exit polls & election-night reporting

Are we paying attention? Does policy reflect opinion? Attentive publics Domestic vs. foreign policy awareness

Political Culture Shared values: Liberty Equality Individualism Majority rule Popular sovereignty Rule of law Optimism

Political Subcultures Daniel Elazar – 3 political subcultures: Moralistic: Emphasis on civic duty, solving problems collectively. Individualistic: Politics is a competitive marketplace; reps fight for their people. Traditionalistic: Keep the status quo; people defer to the ruling elites.

Political Ideology Liberalism Conservatism Libertarianism Traditional conservatives Social conservatives Libertarianism

Ideology in practice Ideologies as symbols Converse and the study of “belief systems” Are there any ideologues (outside talk radio)?