Chapter Eleven The Citizen in Government The Political System ~~~~~ Shaping Public Opinion

Freedom of Expression the influence of opinions affect what others believe affect how others act affect the government opinion a personal view, belief, or attitude formed about a particular matter opinions of the people greatly influence government affairs public opinion the total of all the opinions held concerning a particular issue there are very few issues on which all Americans agree

opinions are shaped by influences from many sources family first and primary influence on us plays a major part in shaping all of our attitudes and values friends, teachers, and clubs as we age, other people begin to influence what we believe experiences life events that affect us information mass media various forms of communication that transmit information to large numbers of people print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers electronic media such as film, radio, television, and the Internet huge amounts of info available to the public on many issues having access to info does not always mean being well informed information can be inaccurate or one-sided, opinion rather than facts effective citizenship requires thinking critically about what we see, hear, and read = ability to filter learn to separate fact from opinion and locate reliable sources Shaping Opinions

ideas used to influence people’s thinking or behavior someone or some group is urging us to do something buy something, believe something, or act in a certain way the propaganda age two reasons it has become increasingly influential 1.tremendous growth of the mass media 2.advances in communications technology communications satellites, computer networks, television broadcasts, and mobile devices all help spread propaganda farther and faster than ever before using propaganda people, groups, and advertisers use it to influence public opinion advertisers use it to urge consumers to buy their products political candidates use it to convince voters to support them dictatorships or a totalitarian governments control people's actions and limit their freedoms democratic societies many groups compete to influence the public and sway people's attitudes, opinions, and behaviors Propaganda

Concealed Propaganda = Propaganda presented as fact and whose source is kept secret. used to fool people without letting them know that its purpose is to influence their views harmless = made up stories about television actors to give them publicity harmful = digitally enhanced/altered photographs or false rumors spread to harm someone or to mislead people about a proposed program or policy Revealed propaganda = Propaganda that openly attempts to influence people. common in the U.S. and in other democracies people are aware that someone is trying to influence them includes almost all advertising somebody wants you to buy something, to believe something, or to feel a certain way TV and radio commercials are direct appeals to the public to buy products, to get voters to support their candidates Kinds of Propaganda

Propaganda Techniques testimonials endorsements from famous people advertisers pay famous people to say they use and like their products they believe people will trust the judgment of talented people they admire people must remember that having a talent does not make someone an expert in everything bandwagon appeals to people's desire to do what their friends and neighbors are doing takes advantage of the "peer pressure" factor “everybody's doing it!” say something often enough and loud enough, many people will believe it if you can win some people over to your ideas, eventually more and more people will come over to your side name-calling the use of an unpleasant label or description to harm a person, group, or product “mud-slinging”

glittering generalities using words that sound good but have little real meaning tell nothing about the product or its ingredients vague statements with which everyone can agree words chosen to suggest positive images which most people in the country can identify with home, country, freedom, patriotism, and American plain-folks appeal designed to show people that they are one of them describe themselves as plain, hardworking citizens stress that they understand the problems of average Americans card stacking using facts in a way that favors a particular product, idea, or candidate sharing only the positive information, while leaving all of the negative things out “spin” Propaganda Techniques

Measuring Public Opinion finding out what the public wants elections polls or surveys Poll = survey taken to measure public opinion. used to find out what people think about specific issues and about politicians and their policies attempts to measure public opinion by asking the opinions of a sample of the public requirements for a good poll 1.a representative sample 2.neutral questions criticism of polls influence public opinion as well as measure it evaluating poll results wording of the questions number of people responding sample population surveyed number of people answering "undecided”