1. Public Opinion and Political Action

2. The study of the American public opinion aims to understand the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues
i.e. who believes what?
Do you see yourself as a member of a political party or subscribe to a specific ideology? Are you an “Independent”?

3. Where do these ideas come from
Where do these ideas come from? How do people end up adopting a political ideology?

4. Political Socialization
The process by which one develops political beliefs

5. Factors That Affect Political Socialization

6. The Family Most important role in socialization
Who do you spend the most time with?
Who loves you?
Are these beliefs usually clearly stated or are they “absorbed”?

7. School Pledge Gov. class
Colleges tend to be liberal (free flow of ideas)
College professors tend to be liberal

8. Religion People who attend church regularly are more likely to vote
Fundamentalists (literal interpretation of Bible), Evangelicals, and Protestants tend to vote conservative
Catholics have traditionally voted Dem. but it’s more split recently
Jews more likely to vote Dem.

9. Race and Ethnicity African Americans strongly Democratic (88% Clinton)
Whites more conservative (58% Trump)
Asian Americans historically conservative but more recently Democratic (65% Clinton)
Hispanics and Latinos tend to support Dems (65% Clinton)

10. The American People
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11. Geography and Location
East and West coasts tend to be more liberal
The south and mid-west tend to be conservative
Urban areas – liberal
Rural areas – conservative

12. Over the last 60 years, the Sunbelt has had the greatest population growth. ( ) Florida 24%, Texas 23%, California 14% - Northeast 5%.
Census – every 10 years
Reapportionment

13. Mass Media Where do you get your information from?
Young people less likely to get their news from television or newspapers than older people

14. Political Ideology
A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose
Valence issues – issues pretty much everyone agrees on
Wedge issues – issues that sharply divide public opinion
Examples?

15. Liberals and Conservatives
Deep breath…here we go… 

16. Liberals The “left” Bigger government Smaller military Pro-choice
Pro gay marriage
Favor affirmative action
Favor taxing the rich
Spend more on the poor
Solve problems that cause crime

17. Conservatives The “right” Smaller govt./states rights Bigger military
Pro-life
More likely to oppose gay marriage
Oppose affirmative action
Lower taxes
Less spending
Harsh punishments prevent crimes

18. Not liberal or conservative? You may be:
Libertarian – less government intervention, more protections for civil liberties
Low taxes
Pro gun and pro choice
“We believe that you should be able to think what you want, live where you want, trade for what you want, eat what you want, smoke what you want, and wed whom you want”

19. Populist:
Fundamental Christian ideas
Protection of working class
High minimum wage
Strong welfare programs

20. Progressive:
Workers rights > corporate rights
Wealthy should pay more taxes

21. Third Parties Libertarian Green – Environmental concerns
Constitution – strict interpretation of the Constitution

22. Why does public opinion matter?
Political Culture – deeply held values shared by most people in the U.S.
Freedom is important
Equality of opportunity is important
But where we differ, people will want to know
Businesses/advertisers
Candidates
Context for our own opinions

23. How do we know?
Polling
1936 Literary Digest poll
George Gallup

24. Polling methodology Wording Question order
Random sampling – everyone has an equal chance of being selected
How is this achieved?
It’s hard.
Random-digit dialing
What about cell phones? The internet?

25. Polling results Margin of error
Sampling error – give basically the same poll to two similar samples. The difference is the sampling error +-
Push Polling
Tracking polls – similar questions over time
Exit polls

26. Polling with my homies Do polls create leaders or followers?
Bandwagon effect

27. Political Participation
How do Americans participate in politics?

28. Voting! The electorate = people who are entitled to vote
Voter turnout = people who voted
How much do we turn out?
Depends on the era
Used to be around 90% (corruption)
50 % in the 60s and 70s
60% in the last 4 elections
Registered voters or voting age?

29. Why don’t we participate?
Student – America, USA
Student number –
Quarter 1 Grade – C-
Participation Grade - F
Why do nearly ½ of people not vote?
U.S. voter participation rate one of the lowest in industrialized nations
Voter apathy – lack of concern for the election
Political efficacy – effectiveness of vote
Losing candidates
No change
General satisfaction
Registration requirements
Too many elections
Weekday elections

30. Who votes how? Religion Race
Age – what age group votes the most? What age group votes the least?
Why?
Gender – The gender gap is the difference in voting behavior between men and women
Women vote more often
Women more likely to vote for Dems
More likely to oppose the death penalty and war.
Socioeconomic status

31. We vote the most during presidential elections
Not so much during Congressional elections
30- 40%
Conservatives more likely to vote in Congressional elections than liberals

32. Other ways to participate
Working on campaigns
Running for office
Contacting officials
Protesting