Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice Chapter 6

Political Socialization: The Origins of Americans’ Opinions Public opinion: opinions of citizens that are openly stated Political socialization: the process by which people acquire their political opinions, beliefs, and values Childhood learning is paramount Process is cumulative: political affiliations usually grow firmer with age

Political Socialization: The Origins of Americans’ Opinions Primary political socialization agents: Family Family is the strongest of all agents of socialization Schools More critical examination of American history in higher grades and in college Church Scholars have not studied the effects of religion as well as schools or family, but it is a powerful influence

Political Socialization: The Origins of Americans’ Opinions Secondary political socialization agents: Peers Media Leaders Events

182 National pride index

Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically Frames of reference: reference points by which individuals evaluate issues and developments Party identification Party identification: emotional loyalty to a political party; not formal membership Major shifts in loyalty rare Usually in response to a major event Can lead to selective perception

184 fig 6-1

186 fig 6-2

187 Party loyalties in the states

Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically Political ideology: A coherent set of political beliefs Few Americans have a true political ideology Ideological leanings: Economic liberals/conservatives Social liberals/conservatives Populists Libertarians

Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically Group orientations Religion Economic class Region Race and ethnicity Gender Generations and age Crosscutting groups

The Measurement of Public Opinion Traditional method: election results Public opinion polls: primary method Measure public opinion using randomly chosen population sample(s) and carefully constructed interviews Samples—estimation of population’s views Accuracy of a poll—expressed by sampling error

The Measurement of Public Opinion Problems with polls Increasing refusal to participate in telephone polls Polled individuals unfamiliar with issues Dishonesty by respondents Poorly worded questions and poor question order Non-opinions

The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy Disagreement over how much public opinion affects policy, and how much it should affect policy Limits on public influence Inconsistencies in citizens’ policy preferences Citizens’ lack of understanding of issues Mastery of issues not necessary for opinion to be of value, but some issues require understanding

The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy Public opinion and the boundaries of action Some policy actions outside boundaries of public acceptability The greater the level of public involvement, the more likely officials will respond to public sentiment Even on popular issues, leaders have some discretion Leaders can influence public opinion through concerted effort