Chapter 11.1 Public Opinion

Forming Public Opinion Public opinion includes the ideas and attitudes that most people hold about elected officials, candidates, gov’t and political issues. It helps shape the decisions of every president as well as the timing of the decisions.

continued Public opinion is not uniform. Many shades of opinions exist on most issues. Enough people must hold a particular opinion to make gov’t officials listen to them. People’s backgrounds and life experiences influence their opinions.

continued TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, recordings, movies and books are called the mass media because they communicate broadly to masses of people. Issues and events the mass media cover and the way they cover them affect people’s attitudes.

continued Political leaders and public officials influence public opinion. They state their views in the mass media, hoping to persuade people to support their positions. People who share a point of view about an issue may form an interest group. The group works to persuade people and officials toward their point of view.

Components of Public Opinion Experts often describe public opinion in terms of direction, intensity and stability. Direction refers to whether opinions on a topic are positive, negative, for or against. Intensity refers to the strength of opinion on an issue Stability means how firmly people hold their views. Public opinion on candidates is relativity unstable.

Measuring Public Opinion Election results give a broad measure of public opinion. A more accurate measure comes from asking people to answer questions in a survey, or public opinion poll. Elected officials use polls to monitor public opinion. Most presidents have a pollster – a specialist whose job is to conduct polls regularly.

continued Polling organizations questions people selected at random from all over the U.S. To present a fairly accurate picture of public opinion, a sample must reflect the characteristics of the entire population. The questions must be fair and unbiased.

continued Some people believe polls support democracy by allowing officials to keep in touch with citizens’ opinions on issues. Critics claim polling makes officials more concerned with following the public than in leading.

continued Many people worry that polls distort elections. During campaigns, the media constantly report who is ahead at the moment, taking the focus off the issues. Also, some people may decide not to vote if they think the outcome has been determined. The Framers succeeded in creating a representative democracy that responds to the wishes of the people yet is shaped by other influences as well.