1. Factors That Influence Political Attitudes
Public Opinion
Factors That Influence Political Attitudes

2. Political Attitudes
Many factors—including family, gender, religion, education, social class, race & ethnicity, and region—all contribute to American political attitudes and behavior

3. Political Attitudes
No single feature of an individual’s life explains all of that individual’s attitudes

4. Family Most important source of political socialization
Plays a major role in shaping political attitudes (especially party identification)

5. Family
Polls show the majority of young people identify with their parents’ political party
Process begins early in life (by age 10 or 11)

6. Family
Even though individuals generally become more independent as they grow older, the correlation between adult party id & the parents’ party is still very high

7. Family
A more recent trend is a tendency for this correlation to be lower than it has in the past
Trend may be related to another trend: growing number of voters who call themselves “independents” rather than Democrats or Republicans

8. Family
More politically active your family, the more likely you are to hold the same beliefs
Examples—Bush & Kennedy families

9. Family
Most members of the extended Kennedy family are Democrats, and most Bush family members are Republicans
Relationship is weaker on specific issues (gun control, school prayer, etc)
Strong for overall political views & ids

10. Gender A person’s gender influences political views
More women consider sexual harassment in the workplace to be a serious problem than do men
More men than women tend to support military actions & spending in foreign affairs

11. Gender Party identification is also affected by gender
This relationship has shifted throughout the years

12. Gender
In the 1920s when women first began to vote, they were more likely to support the Republican Party than were men
Some experts explain correlation by pointing out that Republicans tended to be more the party of “hearth and home”

13. Gender
Tendency for women to vote for Republicans continued through the 1930s

14. Gender
Although most women supported the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), over his Republican opponents, the percentage of women supporters was lower than the percentage of men who supported FDR

15. Gender Trend held until the late 1960s (correlation reversed)
Since that time women have been more likely than men to vote for Democrats

16. Gender
Change explained by the advent of the modern women’s rights movement & the Democrats’ tendency to support points of view women support

17. Gender
Equal opportunity for women
Abortion right
Welfare programs

18. Gender
On the other hand, some experts argue that Republicans are more concerned about defense issues, and thus attract more men to their party

19. Gender
More recent gender-related issue has to do with male v. female support for women political candidates

20. Gender
Although common sense may tell us that women would be more likely to support women candidates, the research does not show a clear correlation

21. Gender
One problem is that relatively few women run for political office
Although their numbers have increased in recent elections, more women candidates run as Democrats than as Republicans

22. Gender
It is difficult to know if the candidates’ gender alone affects voting patterns of women and men

23. Gender
In the presidential election of 2004, the gender gap appeared to close somewhat

24. Gender
Pollster John Zogby has pointed out that the gender gap in the 2004 pres election was not nearly so significant as the gap between married & unmarried voters

25. Gender
He found that on most issues single v. married voters were often points different
Single more likely to vote for Democratic candidate (Kerry)
Married voters more likely to support Republicans (Bush)

26. Religion
An individual’s religion is a factor determining his or her political attitudes
Although the relationships are not as strong as they once were, patterns still hold

27. Religion
Protestants are more conservative on economic matters (minimum wage, taxes) than Catholics & Jews
Jews tend to be more liberal on both economic and social issues (civil liberties & rights)

28. Religion
Catholics tend to be more liberal on economic issues than on social issues

29. Religion Some research on fundamentalist Christians indicates they:
Tend to support more conservative candidates for public office
More likely to contribute to the Republican Party

30. Religion
Conservative tendency is stronger for attitudes about social issues (abortion, stem cell research, etc.) than for foreign affairs & economic issues

31. Education
A person’s level of education also affects political attitudes
Evidence provides conflicting results

32. Education
In general, the higher the individual’s educational level, the more likely he/she is to hold conservative political points of view

33. Education
However—many studies show that college education often influences individuals to have more liberal social & economic attitudes than they had before college

34. Education
Studies show that: the longer students stay in college & the more prestigious the institution they attend, the more liberal they become

35. Education Reasons for this correlation are unclear
Some believe liberal attitudes of professors may influence students
Others believe that the differences are based on the characteristics of people who attend college v. those that don’t

36. Race & Ethnicity
Much research has focused on the relationship between an individual’s race & ethnicity and her/his political attitudes

37. Race & Ethnicity
Oldest & largest numbers of studies focus on black Americans

38. Black Americans Identify with the Democratic Party
Most consistently liberal group within that party

39. Black Americans
Recent presidential elections, blacks have voted in overwhelming numbers (close to 90%) for the Democratic candidate

40. Hispanic Americans
Much less research has been conducted with Hispanic Americans
Preliminary results indicate they too tend to be more liberal than the majority

41. Black Americans Tendency to affiliate with the Democratic Party
Correlation appears to be weaker than that for black Americans (Mexican, Puerto Ricans, etc.)

42. Asian Americans
Limited amount of research on Asian Americans & voting patterns
More conservative than blacks or Hispanics

43. Asian Americans
Attitudes of the various nationalities of Asians fluctuate widely
Korean Americans are more liberal than Japanese Americans

44. Asian Americans
Overall, more Asian Americans voted in the 2000 presidential election for Al Gore (D) than for George W. Bush (R)
Influence of Asian ethnicity on political attitudes is still not clear

45. Which regions in the U.S. are the most liberal? Least liberal?

46. Geographic Region South is the least liberal of the four regions
Midwest somewhat more liberal
East and West most liberal

47. Geographic Region
People on either coast tend to be more liberal than those in the middle of the country

48. Geographic Region Generalization (problems)
Many Californians & New Englanders are conservative

49. Geographic Region
Part of the reason for the trend is an urban/rural differentiation
Coastal cities populated by minorities, recent immigrants & members of labor unions

50. Geographic Region
Cities in the “rust belt” of the Great Lakes region also tend to vote Democratic
Strong labor constituencies (union membership is strong)

51. Southern Region
Party affiliations of Southeasterners have been changing over the past 50 years
Since the 1950s, many southerners have broken their traditional ties with the Democratic Party

52. Southern Region
From the time of Reconstruction – 1950s, the “Solid South” always voted Democratic
Almost all representatives, senators, governors, and local officials belonged to the Democratic Party

53. Southern Region
Since the 1950s, more & more political leaders have affiliated with the Republicans
Today, in most southern states, both parties have competitive elections

54. Why did Southerners change their political affiliation in the 1950s?

55. Southern Region
Many southerners disagreed with the Democratic Party’s support for the black civil rights movement starting in the 1950s
Result – many white southerners changed their party affiliation

56. Southern Region White southerners tend to be:
Less liberal than others on social issues (aid to minorities, legalizing marijuana, same sex unions, etc.)
Similar to those of other regions on economic issues (Social Security, government services, etc.)

57. Southern Region
Although there is some evidence that southerners are more conservative than they were 50 years ago, political views of white southerners are less distinct from those in other regions than they used to be

58. Occupation
Today occupation has a weaker association with political opinions than it did in the 1950s

59. Occupation
The traditional gap—manual workers were more liberal than business or professional persons in their attitudes toward the economy & social welfare has narrowed

60. Social Class
Years ago, the relationship between social class & political attitudes was clear
Higher the social class=more conservative & more likely to belong to the Republican Party

61. Social Class
Even though broad affiliations between blue-collar workers & the Democratic Party & businessmen and the Republican Party still have some credibility, those relationships are much weaker than they once were