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Chapter 11, Section 1 Public Opinion

Main Idea: Politicians pay close attention to public opinion because they know that public support is necessary to stay in office and achieve their goals!!! Politicians pay close attention to public opinion because they know that public support is necessary to stay in office and achieve their goals!!!

I. Forming Public Opinion A. Public Opinion- ideas and attitudes that most people hold about elected officials, candidates, government, and political issues. ***It helps shape decisions made by the president.*** B. Public opinion is not uniform. Many opinions exist throughout the country. ***Enough people need to have the same opinion to actually influence government.***

***People’s backgrounds and life experiences influence public opinion.*** C. TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, books…these all make up the mass media. ***Mass media often affects the attitudes of citizens.***

D. Political leaders and public officials influence public opinion. ***They state their views and ideas to the media, trying to persuade people.*** E. Interest Groups- people who share a point of view about an issue ***These people work to persuade public officials about their views!!!***

II. Components of Public Opinion A. Experts often describe public opinion in three key terms. 1. Direction refers to whether opinions on a topic are positive or negative, for or against. 2. Intensity refers to the strength of an opinion on an issue. 3. Stability means how firmly people hold their views. Public Opinion on candidates is relatively unstable.

B. Polls question people from across the U.S. Samples reflect the entire population to provide accuracy. ***Must be fair and unbiased questions.*** ***1. Pros- support democracy by allowing officials to keep in touch with public on issues ***2. Cons- polling makes officials more concerned about worrying about polls instead of leading the nation.

III. Measuring Public Opinion ( ) A. Election results give broad measure of public opinion. More accurate measures come from surveys and public opinion polls. public opinion polls.public opinion polls. B. Most presidents have a pollster- a specialist whose job is to poll regularly.

C. Many worry that polls distort elections. ***Media constantly releases poll #’s, letting the public know who is ahead at the moment. This takes the focus off the actual issue at hand.*** ***The framers created a representative democracy that responds to the wishes of the people yet is shaped by other influences too.***

11.1 Mini Quiz!!! A.) Pollster B.) Interest Group C.) Mass Media D.) Medium E.) Public Opinion A.) Pollster B.) Interest Group C.) Mass Media D.) Medium E.) Public Opinion 1. People who share a point of view on an issue. 2. Specialist whose job is to conduct surveys. 3. Ideas and attitudes that most people hold about the government. 4. TV, Radio, Newspaper, Movies…. 5. A Mechanism of communication

6. The question of whether people support or oppose tax cuts falls under which feature of public opinion? A. StabilityC. Unity A. StabilityC. Unity B. Direction D. Intensity B. Direction D. Intensity 7. Some people support public-opinion polls because they believe: A. Polls Distort Elections B. Polls focus on who is winning rather than on issues. C. Polling supports democracy. D. Polling makes officials concerned with following the public rather than leading. 8. What issue brings out the most “intensity” in you? EX. Abortion, Religion, War, Gay Rights, Environment etc….