1. Public Opinion & Political Action https://www. youtube. com/watch
Chapter 6
AP Gov.

2. I. The American People
A. In a Republic: citizens preference supposed to guide public policy, but difficult in America:
1. diversity
2. large population
3. Citizens know little about politics!
B. Demographical changes (census data) shows changes across US:
1. Once the melting pot, US now a salad bowl (on path to minority majority by 2060):
Largest group African Americans
Latinos predicted to pass/be #1 by early 21st century
Asian Americans the most skilled & best off group
Native Americans, the worst of group, least healthy, poorest & least educated!

3. I. American People Cont.
C. despite diversity Americans share A Political Culture (overall set of values widely shared within a society)
D. Last 60 years:
1. population growth & move from north (northeast) to western & southern states
2. Demographic shift brought political change seen in reapportionment process:
The fastest growing age group in US is citizens over age 65, AKA “Gray Power”, will be a strong political group due to active participation!

4. II. Political Socialization: How do Americans Learn About Politics?
A. Political Socialization defined: the process through which an individual acquires his/her own political orientation
B. Agents of socialization:
1. Family: politics a learned behavior, parents have monopoly on time & early social learning, predictor of young voting behavior = parents political leanings
2. The Media: “the new parent”, replaces parent as biggest source of information as children get older
3. School: govt. uses to instill a commitment to the basic values of the system regardless if democratic or authoritarian to help ensure supportive citizens, usually works best in very young years
C. Most American political learning is more informal than formal

5. III. Measuring Public Opinion & Political Information!
A. Public opinion: the distribution of people’s beliefs about politics & policy issues; product of political learning (R vs L)
B. Public opinion was 1st developed by George Gallup in 1932:
1. Rely on sample of population ( ): a small portion of population to represent whole, to measure public opinion
2. random sampling: key to accuracy of a poll (everyone should have an equal probability of being chosen)
3. sampling error: no matter how perfect, there is always a chance for some error
C. Most polling today done via phone through sampling Random- digital dialing:
1. supporters: tool for democracy, keep up w/changing opinions on policy
2. critics: it distorts election process

6. III. Measuring Public Opinion & Political Information cont.
2. Critics: it distorts the election process:
i. “Bandwagon” effect: voters may support a candidate only because they see that others are doing so because of poll
ii. Exit polls: asking questions of voters on their way out after voting, least accurate as they declare winners before voting is finished in parts of the country
iii. By altering the wording of a question, pollsters can get pretty much any result they want
D. Polls have also revealed that the average American has a low level of political knowledge
E. However, due to share core beliefs, Americans make the system work

7. IV. What Americans Value: Political Ideologies
A. Up to 2005, Americans tip more Conservative than moderate or liberal, but due to minority majority that is changing and they are now more moderate:
1. Who identifies as conservative or liberal varies according to age, gender, race, socioeconomic status
2. Groups with more political clout (influence) tend to be more conservative
3. Women are not minority since they make up 54% of population, but are more disadvantaged than men which has created the gender gap, which means more likely to support Democratic candidates
B. To most people however, liberal/conservative or left/right has not much meaning; it has more meaning with the elites (those in politics)
C. These same elites are the ones more deeply entrenched in political ideology than the average American!

8. V. How Americans Participate in Politics
A. Political participation: many activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue:
1. United States has a participatory political culture:
a % participate in Presidential elections
b. 39% participate in mid-term elections (off-year)
c. Local election turn outs usually 20%-30%
B. Two types of political participation:
1. Conventional: widely accepted modes of influencing government:
a. voting, persuading others, ringing doorbells, running for office
2. Unconventional: dramatic activities:
a. protesting, civil disobedience, and even violence

9. V. How Americans Participate cont.
C. Protest: a form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic & unconventional tactics:
1. Civil Disobedience: protestors cautiously break laws they think are unjust, one of the hallmarks of the Civil Rights movement
2. Goal of most protest in America to draw attention of government to a problem and not to overthrow the government
D. Political participation a class-biased activity w/citizens of higher socioeconomic status participating more:
1. differences decline when income & education kept equal, minorities actually participate more
2. we want smaller government but more services, therefore we are coined as “ideological conservatives” & “operational liberals”