MASS MEDIA & PUBLIC OPINION Chapter 8-9

Public Opinion  Public opinion  Attitudes held by a significant number of people concerning political issues.  Americans belong to many different groups with distinctive viewpoints.  Can be very hard to determine

Public Opinion  Political Socialization  The process by which each person acquires political opinions

Factors that determine our opinions  Family  Parents’ opinions absorbed  Largest influence on our opinion  Young voters: more likely to be independent

Factors that determine our opinions  Religion  Protestants tend to be more conservative (individual morality)  Catholics & Jews, historically, have been more liberal (social justice)  Others: Not as historically predictable  Non-religious: usually more liberal

Factors that determine our opinions  Education  Learn about citizenship, national pride, great Americans  Take Government!  College has liberalizing effect

Factors that determine our opinions  Occupation  Social class, tax burden  Gender  Gender Gap: Men tend to be more conservative; Women more liberal  Social programs? Income?

Factors that determine our opinions  Peer Groups  Classmates, co-workers compare opinions  Historic Events  Civil War, Great Depression, Vietnam, 9-11  Current Recession

Factors that determine our opinions  Mass Media  TV, radio, newspapers, internet  TVs in 98% of American homes  1 st Amendment guarantees rights of press to express opinions and expose scandals.  Lots of options for information, Varying quality

Mass Media  How much does media shape opinions?  Does it have an agenda?  It should not tell us what to think.  It should tell us what to think about.  Bias  undertones of opinions  Propaganda  Technique of persuasion aimed at creating a belief, regardless of its validity

Measuring Public Opinion  Elections  Best way to gauge public opinion  Almost all citizens are eligible to voice their opinion  How can we predict election results?

Measuring Public Opinion  Polls: 2 Types 1. Straw Polls  Ask one question to a large group and waits for responses  Radio hosts, websites  Not scientific You cannot draw conclusions based on these results

Measuring Public Opinion 2. Scientific Polls  Ask a sample of the voters how they would vote  Must represent the voters Proportions from each race, class, and region  Always has a margin for error (±3%)  Gallup Organization, etc.

Art of Polling 1. Random Sample of the population 2. Questions must be understandable 3. Questions must be asked fairly Not leading the responder to one answer 4. Answer categories should be carefully considered Approve, disapprove Excellent, pretty good, fair, poor

Evaluating Polls  When results are in…  Do polls report opinions or shape opinions?  Or both?  “Bandwagon effect”  Polls are not elections!

Evaluating Polls  Assignment  Write THREE clear poll questions on the political topics of your choice  Include answer choices for each (yes, no; etc.)  Write TWO poll questions that contain bias or otherwise could NOT be used to draw conclusions Finally, explain why each could not be used.

Chapter 9 – Interest Groups  Interest Groups – Private organizations whose members share common views and work to shape public policy.  Grassroots – political movements supported average voters  Nearly all Interest Groups use Lobbyists in D.C.  Supply information to elected officials  Testify before congressional committees as experts  Make campaign contributions

Interest Groups  Interest groups DO NOT:  Nominate candidates  Try to win elections  They are NOT political parties  Examples of Interest Groups  MADD, NRA, PETA, AARP  Exxon, Boeing, National Association of Realtors, Verizon  Smaller institutions like colleges, hospitals, etc.

Interest Groups  Criticisms of Interest Groups  Don’t always represent the interests of those they claim to speak for.  How much of the actual population do they represent?  In very rare cases, use tactics like bribery & threats