1. Opinion, Ideology and Policy Wilson 7B

2. US Diversity  Social Class  Not well defined (US)  Less important (Europe)  Not a voting block  Party affiliation (D/R)  Ideology (liberal/conservative)  Social  Moral  Symbolic  Foreign Policy

3. Race and Ethnicity  Differences between black and white narrowing  Generational differences  Youth less likely to blame discrimination  Differences between leadership and the masses  Latinos identify Democrat  See chart on page 166  Asians identify Republican

4. Region  Shift in southern politics  Once dominated by race and liberty  Sympathetic to business not labor  Traditional values moved away from Democrats Democrats Far West, New England Republicans Mountain West, Southeast

5. Political Ideology  Consistent set of beliefs about the policies government should pursue  Measured by the frequency by which people use to describe their preferences  Measured by the extent to which people remain consistent in their preferences  Most Americans do not think ideologically  More moderate today

6. Distinctions of Ideology Liberal  Once meant personal and economic liberty  Changed to support for activist government  Jobs for all  Desegregation  Affirmative Action  Tolerance  Expanding rights Conservative  Once wanted to restore power of church, state, aristocracy  Now favor free markets, state’s rights, individual choice  Law enforcement  Traditional values  Elitist

7. Ideological Consistency  Mix and match with issue categories  4-9 categories  Pure liberal  Young, college, nonreligious  Pure conservative  Older, wealthy, white, midwest  Libertarian  Young, college, white, no religion, west  Populist  Older, less education, religious, female

8. Political Elites  People who have a disproportionate amount of power  “activist”  More informed  More active  More consistent  More homogeneous  Frame the political issues  State the norms for settling issues  Issues arise from personal experience  Contradiction and disagreement among elites

9. Free Response