Political Opinions, Behaviors, and Beliefs Political Culture, Public Opinion, Political Participation and Voting Behavior

Political Culture Alexis de Tocqueville Factors critical in shaping American democracy Abundant and fertile land Opportunities to acquire land and make a living Lack of feudal aristocracy An independent spirit encouraged by frontier living

Political Culture Core Values Liberty Equality Opportunity and Outcome Individualism Democracy Rule of law Civic Duty Capitalism Free enterprise

Political Culture Values change in the 1930s Promotion of the general welfare Second Bill of Rights—FDR Political Tolerance Mistrust of the Government Political Efficacy Culture Wars

Public Opinion Measuring Public Opinion George Gallup Polls Representative sample Random sampling Stratified sampling Respondent’s knowledge or lack thereof Careful and objective wording Cost efficiency v. accuracy Straw poll

Public Opinion Variances between samples Sampling errors (margin of error) Factors that influence political attitudes Political Socialization Family Gender Married v. unmarried Religion Education Social Class Race Geographic region

Public Opinion Political Ideology: Liberals and Conservatives 12% Ideologues 42% Group benefits voters 24% Nature of the times voters 22% No issue content

Public Opinion IssueLiberalsConservatives Healthcare Widely available, tend to support n’tl healthcare Best handled by private insurance and tied to workplace benefits Crime Cure the economic and social reasons for crime Stop coddling criminals and punish them Business Gov’t should regulate businesses in the public interest Businesses should be allowed to operate under free market conditions Military Spend lessSpend more Taxes The rich should be taxed more; the gov’t is responsible for reducing economic inequality Taxes should be kept low Welfare Gov’t should help the poorPeople are responsible for themselves; welfare takes away the incentive to work Civil rights Pro-active civil rights gov’tLimited role in promoting social equality Abortion Pro-choicePro-life Religion Clear separation of church and state Support for faith based initiatives

Public Opinion Political Ideology: Liberals and Conservatives Neo-cons Main goal is to counter global terrorism Social Conservatives Religious Right

Political Participation and Voter Behavior Types of Participation Who Participates? Education Religious Involvement Race Age Gender Two party competition Cross cutting cleavages

Political Participation and Voter Behavior Expanding Suffrage Lifting of property restrictions Suffrage for Blacks 15 th amendment Jim Crow Voting Rights Act of th amendment Women’s Suffrage 19 th amendment year olds 26 th amendment

Political Participation and Voter Behavior Voter Turnout Registered voters Eligible voters Voter registration Motor Voter Reasons for low Turnout Difficulty of absentee voting Number of offices to elect Weekday, non holiday voting Weak political parties Apathy/mistrust/low levels of efficacy