1. The American People Chapter 6.1

2. Objectives –Identify demographic trends and their impact on American politics Essential Question –How does the positions of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans in the American political and economic sphere differ?

3. Defining Public Opinion –Public opinion is the collective individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of adults. –Private opinion becomes public opinion when an individual takes some type of action to express an opinion to others publicly. –When there is general public agreement on an issue, there is said to be a consensus. When opinions are sharply divided, there is divisive opinion.

4. Consensus vs. Divisive Opinion

5. American demographics –Demography is the science of human population –Census allows us to understand demographic changes in the U.S. –Every 10 years as per the Constitution

6. The Immigrant Society –African Americans face a legacy of racism –Hispanics are the largest minority group, faced with the problem of illegal immigration –Asian immigration has been driven by a new class of professional workers.

7. The American Melting Pot –Melting pot- cultures, ideas, and people blend as one –Minority majority- minority groups together will represent the majority in the mid 21 st century

9. The Regional Shift –Reapportionment: The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census.

10. The Graying of America –Fastest growing age group is over 65 –Potential drain on Social Security 1960- 5.7 workers per retiree Currently there are 3 workers per retiree –“Gray Power”

11. Political Socialization

12. Objectives –Identify the agents of political socialization Essential Question –How do American learn about politics?

13. –Political Socialization is the process by which individuals acquire political beliefs and attitudes –Agents of Political Socialization Family –Time & emotional commitment –Political leanings of children often mirror their parent’s leanings

15. –The Mass Media Generation gap in TV news viewing –School / Education Used by government to socialize the young into the political culture Education produces better jobs and a more positive view of government

16. Political Preferences The candidates and political parties individuals decide to support are influenced in part by certain demographic and socioeconomic factors. –Demographic Influences Education Economic Status Religious Influence: Denomination Religious Influence: Commitment Race and Ethnicity Gender Geography

17. Measuring Public Opinion Chapter 6.3

18. Objectives –Explain how polls are conducted and what can be learned from them about American Opinion Essential Question –What components are necessary in order to conduct an accurate opinion poll?

19. Measuring Public Opinion –The History of Opinion Polls 1800s: Straw Polls By the 1930s modern, relatively accurate polling techniques were developed by George Gallup, Elmo Roper, and others. –Sampling Techniques Representative Sampling The Principle of Randomness –A purely random sample will be representative within the stated margin of error. The larger the sample of the population, the smaller the margin of error.

20. Problems with Polls –Sampling Errors The difference between a sample’s results and the true result if the entire population had been interviewed. Dangerous if the sample is too small or if the polltakers do not know how to correct for common biases in samples. –Poll Questions Yes/no answers are a problem if the issue admits to shades of gray. Often, people will attempt to please the interviewer. –Push Polls Attempts to spread negative statements about a candidate by posing as a polltaker.

21. Gallup Poll Accuracy

22. Technology and Opinion Polls –The Advent of Telephone Polling Far easier and less expensive than door-to-door polling, and has become standard. Too many entities are conducting “ polls ” and “ market research. ” Nonresponse Rates Have Skyrocketed –Internet Polling Many voters are still not online There are many unscientific straw polls on the Internet In time, nonresponse rates to Internet polling could escalate like those of telephone polls.

23. Public Opinion and the Political Process –Political Culture and Popular Opinion. A set of attitudes and ideas about the nation and government. Certain shared beliefs about important values are considered the core of American political culture. Values like liberty, equality, and property; support for religion; and community service and personal achievement bind the nation together despite its highly diverse population. –Political Culture and Support for Our Political System –Political Trust

24. Public Opinion about Government –Trust in government peaked after 9/11 but fell back thereafter. Over the years, the military and churches have been the institutions receiving the highest levels of public confidence. After 9/11, confidence in the military reached new highs. Confidence in churches was hurt in 2002 by a series of sexual abuse scandals. Banks and the Supreme Court also score highly, while the media, Congress, labor unions, and business come off more poorly.

25. Trends in Political Trust

26. Confidence in Institutions

27. Public Opinion and Policymaking The general public believes the leadership should pay attention to popular opinion. Leaders themselves are less likely to believe this. –Setting Limits on Government Action Public opinion may be at its strongest in preventing politicians from embracing highly unpopular policies. –Taking into account the limits on polling

28. Political Ideologies 6.4

29. Objective: –Identify the influence of political ideology on Americans’ political thinking and behavior. Essential Question –How do the ideologies of liberals and conservatives differ?

30. Political Ideology: –A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose Who Are the Liberals and Conservatives? –Predominance of conservative over liberal thinking –Currently about 38% conservative, 24% liberal, 38% moderate Gender gap: women tend to be less conservative than men Ideological variation by religion too

31. Who Are Liberals and Conservatives

32. Do People Think in Ideological Terms? –Ideologues: think in ideological terms –Group Benefits voters: view politics through party or group label –Nature of the Times: view of politics based on whether times are good or bad –No issue content: vote routinely for party or personality

35. Political Participation

36. Objectives: –Identify forms of political participation into two types –List the advantages of each form of polical participation

37. Conventional participation –Voting (most common) –Collecting signatures for petitions –Running for office –Working in campaigns –Contacting government officials –Working on community issues –Campaign contributions

38. Unconventional Participation –Political protest Achieve political change through dramatic tactics (Wall Street Protest) –Civil disobedience Political participation in which the law is broken (Ferguson riots)

39. Advantages –Direct contact with politicians (contacting representative/senator) –Running for office- set policy agenda –Protest- quick attention to issue –Petition- bring other attention to issue –Campaign work- contact with officials