Public Opinion The Role of Citizen Attitudes and Beliefs in Democracy This presentation is the property of Dr. Kevin Parsneau for use by him and his current students. No other person may use or reprint without his permission.

What is public opinion and what is its role in a democracy? What is ideology and its role in a democracy? What are the differences between American liberals and American conservatives? Where do people get their ideologies and opinions?

Public Opinion Public Opinion: The aggregate of citizen preferences and judgments about the decisions and policies of government officials. Political Efficacy: the confidence that people have that their opinions and actions influence the government. Ideology: a set of organized and coherent beliefs and opinions usually related to politics, public policy and the economy that form a general philosophy. Specific Issues

Responsiveness Responsiveness: the extent to which governmental policy matches the preferred policies of the public. Which public? – Adults? – Voters? – Activists? – Interest groups? The case against responsiveness

Ideologies Ideology: a set of organized and coherent beliefs and opinions usually related to politics, public policy and the economy that form a general philosophy.

What’s the difference between an ideology and just a bunch of beliefs? Ideologies Should be consistent, coherent and constrain each other. E.g.: Belief in small government whether you are paying taxes or expecting benefits. E.g. Belief in protections from police whether you are the accused or crime victim. Bunch of beliefs Tend to be inconsistent, self interested and do not constrain each other. E.g. Wants small government for others but assistance for self. E.g. Doesn’t want protections for accused until you are the accused.

Some Major Modern Ideologies “Right-wing” Ideologies – Conservatism – Fascism – Libertarianism “Left-wing” Ideologies – Socialism – Communism – Anarchism

Ideologies: Disclaimer The following slides summarize seven prominent ideologies relevant to contemporary politics. In addition to the many people who hold them, each ideologies has been discussed in thousands of pages by political theorists and philosophers. None of them can be easily summarized in an hour, much less in a short presentation. I have done my best to give an idea of the general ideas of each in as objective a manner possible. If you feel I have unfairly summarized one, please let me know while keeping in mind the constraints of this course. I hope that you will consider taking more political thought courses if you are interested in general understanding of these ideologies

“Right-wing” Ideologies Conservatism Fascism Libertarianism

“Left-wing” Ideologies Socialism Communism Anarchism

Dominant American Ideology Liberals (Classical Liberalism) believe that goal of society should be to promote the ability of its members to develop their own capacities to their full extent (property and amass wealth). They emphasize the importance of political democracy with limited government and individualism They generally support market-based “laissez faire” economies, sometimes with social welfare programs to reduce some problems. They are willing to accept economic inequality caused by market forces.

American Liberalism vs. American Conservatism 1. Regulation and market intervention vs. Free market 2. Social aspects of problems vs. Individual aspects of problems 3. More active government vs. Less active government 4. Equality of outcomes vs. Equality of opportunity 5. Civil liberties and civil rights vs. Law and order 6. Tolerance vs. Uniformity Many of these differences are matters of degrees and emphasis. We should beware of slippery labels

Political socialization: The process whereby citizens develop values, attitudes, beliefs, and opinions that enable them to support the political system

Agents of political socialization Parents School College Media Historic Events Policies Social Class Race Gender

Final Thoughts We expect democracies to have some level of responsiveness Ideologies are an important aspect of public opinion and the idea of left-right ideologies comes the French Revolution The dominant American ideology is an off-shoot of Classical Liberalism Agents of political socialization are the influences that affect our values, attitudes, beliefs and opinions about the political system