American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials

1. American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials Chapter 6 Public Opinion and Political Socialization

2. Defining Public Opinion Public opinion: the aggregate of 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 Consensus versus divisive opinion

4. Political Socialization The process by which individuals acquire political beliefs and attitudes Sources of political socialization The family and the social environment The education system Peers and peer group Opinion leaders The media

5. Political Socialization (continued) Political events can produce a long-lasting impact on opinion formation Example: the impact of the Great Depression on people who came of age in that period, called a �generational effect�

6. Political Preferences and Voting Behavior Demographic influences - education and economic status Religious influences - denominations, groups such as evangelicals Race and ethnicity influences Gender influences Geographical influences

9. The Gender Gap

10. Election-Specific Voting Behavior Factors Party identification Perception of the candidates Issue preferences

11. Measuring Public Opinion The history of opinion polls In the 1800s - straw polls By the 1930s - modern and relatively accurate polling techniques developed by George Gallup, Elmo Roper, and others

12. Measuring Public Opinion (continued) 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

13. Problems with Polls Sampling error: the difference between a sample�s results and the �true� result if the entire population had been interviewed Yes/no answers pose problems when the issues admit 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

15. Technology and Opinion Polls The advent of telephone polling Easier and less expensive than door-to-door polling But many entities are conducting �polls� and �market research� so nonresponse rates have skyrocketed Internet polling Many unscientific �nonpolls� are seen on the Internet In time, nonresponse rates to Internet polling could escalate as did telephone poll rates

16. Public Opinion and the Political Process Political culture and popular opinion Certain shared beliefs about important values are considered the core of American political culture Values bind the nation together despite its highly diverse population These values include the rights to liberty, equality, and property; support for religion; and community service and personal achievement

17. Public Opinion and the Political Process (continued) Political culture and support for our political system Political trust

18. Trends in Political Trust

19. Public Opinion about Government Trust in government peaked shortly after September 11, 2001 but fell back thereafter Of all institutions, the military and churches have historically received the greatest public confidence Confidence in the military reached new highs after 9/11; confidence in churches was hurt by a series of sexual abuse scandals beginning in 2002 Banks and the Supreme Court also score highly; the media, Congress, labor unions, and businesses are less often trusted

20. Confidence in Institutions

22. Public Opinion and Policy Making The general public believes that the leadership should pay attention to popular opinion, though leaders themselves are less likely to believe this Limits on government action Public opinion may be at its strongest in preventing politicians from embracing highly unpopular policies Limits of polling

23. Questions for Critical Thinking In what ways have you been socialized politically? Compare and contrast your experiences with those of your classmates. In 2000, less than half of the adult population participated in the U.S. presidential election. If the public continues to have minimal involvement in the political process, can democracy continue to function? What are your thoughts on the future of American democracy?