Democracy and Public Opinion  Core beliefs are shared  Political attitudes differ  What is public opinion?  Public opinion is critical to democracy  Surveys and elections measure public opinion  Is public opinion informed? 5.1 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

5.1 What do the people know? © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Public Opinion Polls  Sample survey Systematic interviews Trained professional interviewers Standardized questions Small sample: 1,000-1,500 Sample must be random Telephone interviews most common 5.2 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges of Political Polling  Issues of wording Leading words Closed-ended questions  Issues of intensity and timing Range of answers Rank importance of issues  Issues of sampling Telemarketing makes respondents wary Caller ID Cell phones and the Internet 5.2 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Political Socialization: Learning Political Beliefs and Attitudes  Political socialization  Agents of socialization Family Schools Popular culture College education Major events Generational effect  Life stages – jobs, marriage, retirement 5.3 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

How and Why People’s Political Attitudes Differ  Race and Ethnicity  Social Class  Region  Education  Gender  Age  Religion  Party 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Race and Ethnicity  African Americans Solidly Democratic Liberal economic/conservative social  Hispanics Largest and fastest-growing minority Slight Democratic majority More diverse than other minorities Liberal economic/conservative social 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Race and Ethnicity  Asian Americans 5% of population More educated/successful Less politically active Split between parties Liberal economic/conservative social  White ethnics Not politically distinctive Increasingly conservative 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.1: Party identification among various demographic groups 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.2: The racial and ethnic divide 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Class  Most identify as middle class  Most are aware that gap between rich and poor is widening  Income and party linked Lower income = Democrat Higher income = Republican  Union members vote Democratic  More educated = more socially liberal Economic views more complicated 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Region  Each region has distinct political attitudes  The South Conservative socially and economically Opposed to civil rights Strongly Republican  Other regions Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain States  Regional differences are declining 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Education  Education related to income  Strongest predictor of political participation  More educated = more socially liberal  Favor diplomacy over violence 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gender  Partisan gender gap 12% more women are Democrats  Differences in policy preferences Women support protective policies Women opposed to violence No gender gap on abortion 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.3: The gender gap 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Age  Younger citizens lean Democratic  Different policy concerns by age  Generational effects Views on civil rights, homosexuality, environment vary by age 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Table 5.1: The generation gap in © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Religion  Religious denominations Catholics (24%) Protestants (51%) Mormons (2%) Jews (2%)  Religiously committed versus the less committed and secular More religious = more conservative 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.4: Church attendance and the vote in the 2012 presidential election (percentage voting for each candidate) 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

TABLE 5.2: Partisanship and issue positions, © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.5: Party identification and political ideology 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contours of American Public Opinion: Are the People Fit to Rule?  What People Know About Politics  Attitudes About the System in General  Liberals and Conservatives  Policy Preferences  The People’s “Fitness to Rule” Revisited 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

What People Know About Politics  Americans ignorant and apathetic Information age has not helped Is missing knowledge vital? Not going to change  Political ideology Not consistent  Is the public rational? 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Attitudes About the System in General  National pride higher than other countries  Rising pessimism Declining trust in government Country moving in wrong direction – 86% 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.6: Public trust in government 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Attitudes About the System in General  Presidential approval ratings  Rise of Tea Party 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Liberals and Conservatives  Ideology not rigid but attitudes divided Economic and socially conservative Economic and socially liberal Economic conservative/social liberal Economic liberal/social conservative  Sources of political attitude differences Government regulation of the economy Government help to the disadvantaged Government enforcement of traditional values 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

TABLE 5.3: Positioning prominent Americans 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Policy Preferences  Opinions on spending programs Too little spent on crime, health insurance Too much spent on foreign aid Support for regulation increases after disasters 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.7: Public support for increased government spending programs 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 5.8: Views on abortion 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Policy Preferences  Foreign policy and national security Support for active role in world affairs consistent Hesitancy to commit troops abroad Isolationism Unilateralism versus multilateralism 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.