Chapter 4 Section 1

 Public Opinion – the collection of individual opinions toward issues or objects of general interests, that is, those that concern a significant number of people

 Political Socialization – learning about politics by exposure to new information supplied or filtered through parents, peers, schools, the media, political leaders, and the community.

 The Family: Parents share their opinions and children imitate them; Children reflect what they learn in the home; Children inherit their social and economic positions from their parents; Agreement with parents declines when young adults leave the home

 School: Schools promote patriotic rituals; Textbooks foster commitment to government and the status quo; Reading habits and language skills help build democratic citizenship; College broadens students’ perspectives and leads to greater understanding of the world

 Peers: Have the most influence when the peer group is attractive to the individual and when the individual spends time with the group.

 Adult Socialization: Political opinions are affected by such factors as marriage, divorce, unemployment, new jobs, or moves to new locations.

 Early polling efforts: Straw polls – unscientific polls run by newspapers or other media sources that attempt to forecast election outcomes

 Emergence of Scientific Polling: Beginning after WWII and based on marketing research; Applies mathematical principles of probability; Gallup among the first to use the technique

 Polls and Politics: Polling catches on with politicians in the 1960s; Presidents often follow polls on a weekly basis and shape their messages based on these polls; “Crafted talk” is allows politicians to move away from the center and cater to the more extremist views of their base while appearing to be mainstream; Push polls – polls that try to determine if certain information can “push” voters in a particular direction

 Many Americans do not know much about government beyond the Constitution;  Most Americans do not keep up with what goes on in Washington, DC;  Lack of knowledge prevents Americans from holding government accountable;  Failure to stay informed means politicians can ignore what the public wants