1. Chapter 11 Political Socialization and Public Opinion
To Accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, and Texas Editions
American Government: Roots and Reform, 10th edition
Karen O’Connor and Larry J. Sabato
 Pearson Education, 2009

2. Political Socialization
The way people acquire their political values.
Family members.
School and peers.
Media, especially television.
Religion.
Demographics: race, ethnicity, gender, age, and region.
Outside events.

3. History of Public Opinion Polls
Successes of Literary Digest from
Used straw polls to make predictions.
Literary Digest was incorrect in 1936; error in sample.
George Gallup made correct prediction.
Gallup was a pioneer in scientific public opinion polls.
Continues to be successful today.

4. Conducting Public Opinion Polls
Determining content and phrasing questions.
Selecting sample.
Common methods are random or stratified sampling.
Contacting respondents.
Random digit dialing is most popular.

5. Types of Political Polls
Push polls are used to influence opinion.
Tracking polls are taken on a daily basis.
Exit polls are taken after leaving a polling place.

6. Shortcomings of Polling
Must consider margin of error.
May make errors in selecting the sample.
Polls limit respondents’ options.
People may not have enough information to answer.
Measures of intensity may be imprecise.

7. Influences on Public Opinion
Political socialization.
Personal benefits.
Political knowledge, or lack thereof.
Cues from leaders.
Political ideology.

8. Effects of Public Opinion
May influence the course of public policy.
Some critics argue this weakens democracy.
Creation of bandwagon and underdog effects.

9. AV- Racial and Ethnic Attitudes
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10. Figure 11.1- First-Year Student Ideology
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11. Figure 11.2- Religious Self-Identification
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12. Figure 11.3- Views on Hurricane Katrina
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13. Figure 11.4- The Gallup Poll
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14. Figure 11.5- Opinion on Gas Taxes
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15. Figure 11.6- Random Digit Dialing
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16. Figure 11.7- Daily Tracking Poll
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17. Figure 11.8- Public Opinion on Iraq
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18. Table 11.1- Gender Differences
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19. Table 11.2- Political Knowledge
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