Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Political Socialization Daily Dilemma: The death penalty should be outlawed. Agree or disagree.  

Death Penalty The death penalty is very popular in the U.S. thought it is outlawed in two-thirds of the world’s countries including every Western democracy

Public Opinion. Collective attitude of the citizens on a given issue or question

Characteristics of Public Opinion The public’s attitude toward a given government policy can vary over time Public opinion places boundaries on allowable types of public policy (beheading is not ok) If asked, citizens will register an opinion outside of their expertise Governments ten to respond to public opinion The government sometimes does not do what people want

Public Opinion and the Models of Democracy Majoritarian Pluralist The government should do what a majority of people wants Assumes a majority of people hold clear, consistent opinions on government policy  Because government policy sometimes runs against majority opinion, it’s easy to attack this model as a description of reality Framers didn’t want a government totally responsive to majority opinion. Didn’t trust the public to make public policy Public rarely has clear, consistent opinions on day-to-day government Believes the public is often uninformed and ambivalent about specific issues

Sample Accuracy… Is determined by 3 things: How the sample is selected. For maximum accuracy, the sample must be selected randomly. The larger the sample is, the more accurately it represents the population The amount of variation in the population. If there were no variation, every sample would be perfectly accurate

Distribution of Public Opinion Mode: Most frequent response Stable distribution: shows little change over time.

SKEWED: An asymetrical but generally bell-shaped distribution (of opinions). The most common response lies off to one side

Bimodal Distribution A distribution (of opinions) that shows two responses being chosen about as frequently as one another

Normal Distribution A symmetrical bell-shaped distribution (of opinions) centered on a single mode, or most frequent response

What distribution do our test scores resemble?

Interesting Facts Historically, the ideological distribution of the public has been skewed toward conservatism in every presidential election since 1964 In 1958 only 4% of Americans approved of interracial marriage. By 2007 77% approved.

Political Socialization Complex process by which people acquire their political values http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdJ2URru0Lw

Principles that Characterize Early Learning Primacy Principle: What is learned first is learned best Structuring Principle: What is learned first structures later learning The extent of the influence of any socializing agent depends on the extent of our exposure to it, our communication with it and our receptivity to it

Family In most cases, exposure, communication and receptivity are highest in parent-child relationships. Children learn a wide range of social, moral, religious, economic and political values from parents Party identification starts with imitation, however this doesn’t always follow directly because parents are less deliberate about exposing their children to political parties and political parties themselves don’t actively socialize kids (Sunday school model)

School Elementary schools prepare children to accept the social order. Students also take part in political rituals. High schools work to build “good citizens,” asking students to think critically about American government and politics while teaching civic responsibility Colleges teach courses that stimulate critical thinking for students, asking them to hone and question their own values

Community & Peers Community: People of all ages with whom you come in contact because they live or work near you Peers: friends, classmates and coworkers Homogenous communities can exert strong pressures on both children and adults to conform to the dominant attitude

Continuing Socialization As parental and school influences wane into adulthood, peer groups assume a greater importance in promoting political awareness and developing political opinions Values change, reflecting self-interest, as voters age. People become more supportive of Social Security spending (out of self-interest) and more likely to continue voting (out of habit)

Social Groups and Political Values People with similar backgrounds share similar experiences and tend to develop similar political opinions. Sharp differences in attitudes based on education, income, region, race, religion and sex.

Education Higher education promotes tolerance of unpopular opinions and behavior and invites citizens to see issues in terms of civil rights and liberties. People with more education are more aware of political issues. When confronted with the order vs. freedom debate, college-educated individuals often choose freedom

Income In many countries, differences in social class based on social background and occupation divide people’s politics Wealth is linked to opinions favoring a limited government role in promoting equality Groups with higher education and income favor freedom over order

Region In recent decades, the movement of people and wealth away from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sunbelt states in the South and Southwest has equalized per capita income of various regions

Race & Ethnicity During the early 1900’s immigrants formed a base of the Democratic Party African Americans are more likely to identify with the Democratic party. In the 2008 election, 95% of African Americans voted for Obama. At the national level, Latinos have lagged behind African Americans in mobilizing and gaining political office

Issues of Equality… Members of minority groups display somewhat similar political attitudes on issues of equality Racial minorities (except 2nd generation Asian immigrants) tend to have low socioeconomic status (position in society based on education, occupational status and income) Minorities have been targets of prejudice and discrimination and have benefited from government actions in support of equality

Religion & Gender Religious beliefs can influence the way people feel about social order (the abortion debate) Gender impacts political beliefs. Women frequently are more supportive of men of affirmative action and government spending on on social programs and are less supportive of the death penalty

Presidential Opinion Polling http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/170917611.html Study the polls around the room and complete the information sheet with your group members.

From Values to Ideology Most voters tend not to use ideological concepts when discussing politics. The tendency to use ideological terms in discussing politics grows with increased education. Liberals support economic intervention to promote economic equality while conservatives favor less government intervention and more individual freedom in economic activities

In short… Liberals support equality over freedom, but oppose surrendering freedom for order Conservatives do not necessarily oppose equality but put a higher value on freedom than on equality. Conservatives are not above restricting freedom when threatened with the loss of order

Ideological Types in the U.S. One reason so many Americans classify themselves as conservative on a one-dimensional scale is that they have no option to classify themselves as libertarian. Communitarians are prominent among blacks and Latinos and among people with no high school degree, people who look favorably on the benefits of government Many people define themselves as moderate because they are liberal on some issues and conservative on others

Political Knowledge “In particular, women, African Americans, the poor and the young tend to be substantially less knowledgeable about politics than are men, whites, the affluent and older citizens.” –Delli Carpini and Keeter

Self-Interest Principle People choose what benefits them personally

Issue framing The way that politicians or interest group leaders define an issue when presenting it to others Reduction in taxes– “Returning money to people” versus “reducing government services” SPIN– the framing of issues by politicians and the media