Chapter 7: Public Opinion Pages 155-175

Bell Ringer 11-19-2007 Not create government that would do what the people want from day to day Check Public Opinion Popular rule Elect House of Rep’s, Senate, presidential electors Representative Gov, Bill of Rights, independent judiciary, federalism, separation of powers Factions “No complete Public Opinion”

How is public opinion formed? Why public opinions differ. Chapter Objectives What is public opinion? How is public opinion formed? Why public opinions differ.

WHAT IS PUBLIC OPINION?

PUBLIC OPINION How people think or feel about things (politics) Vast majority of people knew next to nothing about government Only vague notions of much-publicized public policy that affects us directly

Monetary Control Bill 1940s 21% favored the bill 25% opposed it The rest said they hadn’t thought about it or didn’t Know NO SUCH BILL

HOW POLLING WORKS Poll – survey of public opinion Random Sample – any given voter or adult has equal chance of being interviewed. Sampling Error – difference between to identical polls

HOW POLLING WORKS Exit Polls = interview randomly selected people at polling place on election day Quite accurate except when a very close election

HOW OPINIONS DIFFER Opinion saliency: some people care more about certain issues than other people do Opinion Stability: some issues or choices opinions are steady, while on others they are more volatile Opinion-policy congruence: some issues government is in sync with popular views, while on other issues it is significantly out of sync

Political Socialization Personal and other background traits influence one’s views about politics and government matters Your surroundings influence your political and Government beliefs

THE ELITE People who have a disproportionate share of some valued resource (money) Know more about politics Hold more or less a consistent set of political beliefs Government attends more to the elite views than the popular vies

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

FAMILY 60% of adults adopt the party preference of their parents There has been a decline in the ability of family to promote a partisan identification

RELIGION Religious differences make for political differences Catholics – more liberal Protestants – more conservative Jewish – more liberal SOCIAL ISSUES

GENDER GAP Men and women both ID with Democrats at the same levels in 1950s 1990s men more Republican WHY = men more conservative, Democratic female candidates

Schooling & Information Longer in College more liberal Political participation among college students has declined

CLEAVAGES IN PUBLIC OPINION Social Class Region CLEAVAGES IN PUBLIC OPINION Race & Ethnicity

Cleavages in Public Opinion “It would be so much easier if everyone’s opinion on political affairs reflected some single feature of his or her life, such as income, occupation, age, race, or sex.”

SOCIAL CLASS Public Opinion and voting less determined by class than in Europe Becoming less clear-cut source of political cleavage Noneconomic (abortion, race relations, environment, etc.) issues now define liberal and conservative

Race & Ethnicity African-Americans are overwhelmingly Democrat Becoming a less clear-cut source of political change The gap in opinions is narrowing between blacks and whites Tables 7.4 & 7.5

Race & Ethnicity Gap between leaders of African American Organizations and African Americans in general. Gap between white leaders and white citizens Gaps within own race

REGION Southerners & Northerners disagree significantly Southerners becoming less Democratic

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY Patterned set of political beliefs about who ought to rule, their principles and policies Moderates – largest group of voters. Figure 7.3 (pg 168)

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY Small minority take ideologically consistent views on political issues People often express opinions at odds with their ideological label Ideological thinking may be greater in some years than in others Americans do not think of politics in an ideological manner

INCONSISTENT OPINIONS VOTERS HAVE .... INCONSISTENT OPINIONS Conservative Liberal

CONVENTIONAL LIBERAL VIEW Favor bigger welfare state Favor smaller military establishment

CONVENTIONAL CONSERVATIVE VIEW Strong military Prayer should be in schools Oppose abortion on demand

Early 19th Century Liberal: favored personal and economic liberty – freedom from the controls and powers of the state Supported free market and opposed Government regulation of trade

Early 19th Century Conservative: opposed the excesses of the French Revolution and its emphasis on personal freedom and favored instead a restoration of the power of the state, the church, and the aristocracy

Meaning of Coservative & Liberal Change Franklin Roosevelt THE NEW DEAL Meaning of Coservative & Liberal Change

LIBERAL An active national government that would intervene in the economy, create social welfare programs, and help certain groups gain greater bargaining power

CONSERVATIVE Barry Goldwater Free market rather than a regulated one States’ rights over national supremacy Individual choice in economic affairs US play active role in world affairs

Conservative v. Liberal TABLE 7.69 Conservative v. Liberal PAGE 170

ECONOMY Liberals Favor gov. efforts to ensure everyone has a job Spend more money on medical and educational programs Increase rate of taxation for well-to-do persons

CIVIL RIGHTS Liberals Strong federal action to desegregate schools Provide compensatory programs for minorities Enforce Civil Rights laws strictly

Public & Political Conduct Liberals: Tolerant of protest demonstrations Legalizing Marijuana Eliminate crime causes rather than getting tougher with offenders

Two Political Views Economy Personal Conduct Political Ideologies are Complex Liberal and Conservative in their pure form describe the views of relatively few people

Political Elites Are pure liberal or pure conservative because of information and peers Activists: hold office, run for office, lead interest groups and social movements Since 1980s Congress has showed more partisan voting

Political Elites Elites influence public opinion in two ways. Elites raise and frame political issues: influence what issues capture public opinion and how those issues are debated and decided State the norms by which issues should be settled

POLITICAL ELITES HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATE INFLUENCE ON PUBLIC POLICY AND ENVEN AND INFLUENCE ON MASS OPINION