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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.
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5.1 What do the people know? © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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FIGURE 5.1: Party identification among various demographic groups 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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FIGURE 5.2: The racial and ethnic divide 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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FIGURE 5.3: The gender gap 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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Table 5.1: The generation gap in 2012 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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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.
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TABLE 5.2: Partisanship and issue positions, 2012 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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FIGURE 5.5: Party identification and political ideology 5.4 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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FIGURE 5.6: Public trust in government 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Attitudes About the System in General Presidential approval ratings Rise of Tea Party 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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TABLE 5.3: Positioning prominent Americans 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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FIGURE 5.7: Public support for increased government spending programs 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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FIGURE 5.8: Views on abortion 5.5 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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.
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