Factors That Influence Political Attitudes Public Opinion Factors That Influence Political Attitudes

Political Attitudes Many factors—including family, gender, religion, education, social class, race & ethnicity, and region—all contribute to American political attitudes and behavior

Political Attitudes No single feature of an individual’s life explains all of that individual’s attitudes

Family Most important source of political socialization Plays a major role in shaping political attitudes (especially party identification)

Family Polls show the majority of young people identify with their parents’ political party Process begins early in life (by age 10 or 11)

Family Even though individuals generally become more independent as they grow older, the correlation between adult party id & the parents’ party is still very high

Family A more recent trend is a tendency for this correlation to be lower than it has in the past Trend may be related to another trend: growing number of voters who call themselves “independents” rather than Democrats or Republicans

Family More politically active your family, the more likely you are to hold the same beliefs Examples—Bush & Kennedy families

Family Most members of the extended Kennedy family are Democrats, and most Bush family members are Republicans Relationship is weaker on specific issues (gun control, school prayer, etc) Strong for overall political views & ids

Gender A person’s gender influences political views More women consider sexual harassment in the workplace to be a serious problem than do men More men than women tend to support military actions & spending in foreign affairs

Gender Party identification is also affected by gender This relationship has shifted throughout the years

Gender In the 1920s when women first began to vote, they were more likely to support the Republican Party than were men Some experts explain correlation by pointing out that Republicans tended to be more the party of “hearth and home”

Gender Tendency for women to vote for Republicans continued through the 1930s

Gender Although most women supported the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), over his Republican opponents, the percentage of women supporters was lower than the percentage of men who supported FDR

Gender Trend held until the late 1960s (correlation reversed) Since that time women have been more likely than men to vote for Democrats

Gender Change explained by the advent of the modern women’s rights movement & the Democrats’ tendency to support points of view women support

Gender Equal opportunity for women Abortion right Welfare programs

Gender On the other hand, some experts argue that Republicans are more concerned about defense issues, and thus attract more men to their party

Gender More recent gender-related issue has to do with male v. female support for women political candidates

Gender Although common sense may tell us that women would be more likely to support women candidates, the research does not show a clear correlation

Gender One problem is that relatively few women run for political office Although their numbers have increased in recent elections, more women candidates run as Democrats than as Republicans

Gender It is difficult to know if the candidates’ gender alone affects voting patterns of women and men

Gender In the presidential election of 2004, the gender gap appeared to close somewhat

Gender Pollster John Zogby has pointed out that the gender gap in the 2004 pres election was not nearly so significant as the gap between married & unmarried voters

Gender He found that on most issues single v. married voters were often 25-30 points different Single more likely to vote for Democratic candidate (Kerry) Married voters more likely to support Republicans (Bush)

Religion An individual’s religion is a factor determining his or her political attitudes Although the relationships are not as strong as they once were, patterns still hold

Religion Protestants are more conservative on economic matters (minimum wage, taxes) than Catholics & Jews Jews tend to be more liberal on both economic and social issues (civil liberties & rights)

Religion Catholics tend to be more liberal on economic issues than on social issues

Religion Some research on fundamentalist Christians indicates they: Tend to support more conservative candidates for public office More likely to contribute to the Republican Party

Religion Conservative tendency is stronger for attitudes about social issues (abortion, stem cell research, etc.) than for foreign affairs & economic issues

Education A person’s level of education also affects political attitudes Evidence provides conflicting results

Education In general, the higher the individual’s educational level, the more likely he/she is to hold conservative political points of view

Education However—many studies show that college education often influences individuals to have more liberal social & economic attitudes than they had before college

Education Studies show that: the longer students stay in college & the more prestigious the institution they attend, the more liberal they become

Education Reasons for this correlation are unclear Some believe liberal attitudes of professors may influence students Others believe that the differences are based on the characteristics of people who attend college v. those that don’t

Race & Ethnicity Much research has focused on the relationship between an individual’s race & ethnicity and her/his political attitudes

Race & Ethnicity Oldest & largest numbers of studies focus on black Americans

Black Americans Identify with the Democratic Party Most consistently liberal group within that party

Black Americans Recent presidential elections, blacks have voted in overwhelming numbers (close to 90%) for the Democratic candidate

Hispanic Americans Much less research has been conducted with Hispanic Americans Preliminary results indicate they too tend to be more liberal than the majority

Black Americans Tendency to affiliate with the Democratic Party Correlation appears to be weaker than that for black Americans (Mexican, Puerto Ricans, etc.)

Asian Americans Limited amount of research on Asian Americans & voting patterns More conservative than blacks or Hispanics

Asian Americans Attitudes of the various nationalities of Asians fluctuate widely Korean Americans are more liberal than Japanese Americans

Asian Americans Overall, more Asian Americans voted in the 2000 presidential election for Al Gore (D) than for George W. Bush (R) Influence of Asian ethnicity on political attitudes is still not clear

Which regions in the U.S. are the most liberal? Least liberal?

Geographic Region South is the least liberal of the four regions Midwest somewhat more liberal East and West most liberal

Geographic Region People on either coast tend to be more liberal than those in the middle of the country

Geographic Region Generalization (problems) Many Californians & New Englanders are conservative

Geographic Region Part of the reason for the trend is an urban/rural differentiation Coastal cities populated by minorities, recent immigrants & members of labor unions

Geographic Region Cities in the “rust belt” of the Great Lakes region also tend to vote Democratic Strong labor constituencies (union membership is strong)

Southern Region Party affiliations of Southeasterners have been changing over the past 50 years Since the 1950s, many southerners have broken their traditional ties with the Democratic Party

Southern Region From the time of Reconstruction – 1950s, the “Solid South” always voted Democratic Almost all representatives, senators, governors, and local officials belonged to the Democratic Party

Southern Region Since the 1950s, more & more political leaders have affiliated with the Republicans Today, in most southern states, both parties have competitive elections

Why did Southerners change their political affiliation in the 1950s?

Southern Region Many southerners disagreed with the Democratic Party’s support for the black civil rights movement starting in the 1950s Result – many white southerners changed their party affiliation

Southern Region White southerners tend to be: Less liberal than others on social issues (aid to minorities, legalizing marijuana, same sex unions, etc.) Similar to those of other regions on economic issues (Social Security, government services, etc.)

Southern Region Although there is some evidence that southerners are more conservative than they were 50 years ago, political views of white southerners are less distinct from those in other regions than they used to be

Occupation Today occupation has a weaker association with political opinions than it did in the 1950s

Occupation The traditional gap—manual workers were more liberal than business or professional persons in their attitudes toward the economy & social welfare has narrowed

Social Class Years ago, the relationship between social class & political attitudes was clear Higher the social class=more conservative & more likely to belong to the Republican Party

Social Class Even though broad affiliations between blue-collar workers & the Democratic Party & businessmen and the Republican Party still have some credibility, those relationships are much weaker than they once were