1. Chapter 6 pgs 167-176 Chapter 6 pgs 176-186
Unit 2 Notes
Chapter 6 pgs
Chapter 6 pgs

2. The Public The public play a very important role in government.
Public Opinion: how the public feels about politics, policy, and issues.
Because the population of the United States is large and diverse, gauging public opinion is an especially complex task.

3. Population Population: the people living within a given territory.
Please note that this is NOT just a number, but refers to actual people.
Demographics: the characteristics of a population
Ex: Age, race/ethnicity, religion, level of education, etc.
Demographics can change over time, influencing public opinion.
Demographics can also be used to predict public opinion, including the results of polls and elections.

4. Population
Census: a count of the population, conducted every ten years in the US, which also asks for certain demographic information.

5. Theories of the American Population
“Melting Pot”: This term has often been used to characterize the American population, describing it as a mix of different cultures that blend together to create a new, truly “American” culture.

6. Theories of the American Population
“Tossed Salad”: A more modern theory on the population which describes a coexistence of cultures to create America, rather than a blending of cultures to create a new one.

7. Demographic Changes Immigration Mobility Age Racial/Ethnic changes
Socioeconomic
Actual location
Age

8. Demographic Changes
Minority Majority: A term made by American political scientists and policy makers which predicts that the majority of the population will be non-white in the near future.
Most believe that the majority of the population will be Hispanic.
This belief stems from changes in immigration, and the establishment of family generations.

9. Demographic Changes
Reapportionment: the redistribution of representation based on population
The Census counts the population of each state to determine its number of representatives within the House of Representatives.
As the population redistributes itself by moving from one location to another, the states’ representation is redistributed with them.

10. Demographic Changes
As the population ages, its values and/or beliefs change.
The US population experienced massive growth from , creating a generation known as the “baby boomers.” Because this is the largest group able to vote in the US today, politics and policy often reflect their opinion.

11. Political Socialization
Political socialization is how an individual learns about politics and establishes their political beliefs.
Only part of this process is formal.
There are three major agents of political socialization:
School
Media
Family

12. Political Socialization
School represents the formal part of political socialization.
Schools are a (mostly) direct way for the government to influence its citizens. Governments often take interest in schools for this reason.
No matter the type or system of government, schools can promote active and education citizens who are more likely to participate in government.
Schools can also promote tolerance and responsiveness, or hostility and prejudice. It just depends on the school, teacher, and government in place.

13. Political Socialization
Family also plays a role in shaping political beliefs.
The influence of your family is both conscious and subconscious, and is always there. This influence comes from the time you spend with them, the emotions you attach to them, and genetics.
While many people like to believe they are independent thinkers, many of our beliefs and values have been shaped by our family one way or another.
Despite some disagreements on key issues, there are always more agreements among different generations of a family.

14. Political Socialization
The media is probably the greatest agent of political socialization in today’s society (because it’s everywhere).
The media often presents a bias, and uses different techniques to influence your opinion about different things.
Propaganda and scare tactics are usually recognizable, but advertisements are a different kind of influence.

15. Political Socialization
A key factor in political socialization is political participation.
Politics and political participation is a learned behavior. The more you participate, the more you know what you believe in; the more you know what you believe in, the more willing you are to participate.

16. Measuring Public Opinion
Public opinion is measured through opinion polls.
Polls are conducted using a sample. A sample is a portion of the population that is representative of the whole.
Most samples are chosen randomly, allowing equal chances among the population to be surveyed.
Random digit dialing is a technique often used to create a random sample.

17. Measuring Public Opinion
Sampling errors represent the confidence one can have about the result.
A sampling error is represented by a plus-minus number.
The more people who participate in the poll, the more confident you can be about the result.
Example: In survey of 2500 people, 70% said they disagree with a policy. The sampling error may be 2%. This means that out of the whole population, 68-72% would also disagree.

18. Measuring Public Opinion
Technology has both helped and hindered opinion polls.
Cell phones make random digit dialing difficult as federal law prohibits the sharing of cell phone numbers with automated dialers.
The Internet has provided another outlet through which to conduct polls, though they must still operate on a volunteer basis.

19. Why conduct polls?
Polls can allow politicians to observe public preferences and “track public opinion not to make policy but rather to determine how to craft their public presentations” to get more people on their side.
Polls may indirectly hinder democratic processes through the bandwagon effect, where people see others doing, saying, or supporting something and are influenced by this percentage—whether it is true or not. This can affect the results of polls and elections.

20. Polls and Political Information
Most polls actually reveal that Americans know little to nothing about politics.
Most Americans “lack basic contextual knowledge…necessary to understand and use the information they receive from the news media [and] political candidates.” Instead, they base their political participation on their knowledge of one issue, simple information about “sides,” and/or their trust in and satisfaction with the existing government.

21. Declining Trust in Government

22. Political Ideologies
A political ideology is a structured set of beliefs about politics and policy.
The two mainstream ideologies are liberal and conservative.
Liberals like change.
Conservatives can’t change.

23. L C m The Political Scale Radicalism Liberalism
Conservative Reactionary

24. Fascism: national unity for the benefit of economics and militarization, usually operating under a dictatorship and strong gov’t…there are no public interests. The far right.
The Political Scale
Conservative: More for tradition or wanting things to stay the same. AKA: the center-right, and in America, the Republicans.
Moderate: No strong feelings one way or the other. Majority of the popu-lation.
Autocracy: political and economic structures are controlled by the government, while the public interests are often overlooked.

25. The Political Scale
Liberal: More open to change. AKA: the center-left, and in America, the Democrats.
Anarchy: the absence of government…there is no public, so there are no public interests. The far left.
Socialism: a political and economic belief that allows for the government to become more involved in society, while keeping with public interest.
Moderate: No strong feelings one way or the other. Majority of the popu-lation.

28. Political Participation and Gender
Women make up the majority of the American population but are still considered a minority of sorts.
This is because they are/have been politically and economically disadvantaged.
Gender gap: a regular pattern apparent in elections and polls that show women as more liberal than men.

29. Political Participation and Race
Non-white ethnic groups are also more likely to be liberal.
One of the consistent changes liberals promote is the use of government in favor of the disadvantaged, which benefit non-white ethnicities and various minorities.

30. Political Participation and Religion
Catholics and Jews are usually more liberal than Protestants, but this is changing.
The ideological gap (in terms of politics) between Catholics and Protestants has become smaller, and both groups are largely conservative, while Jews remain more liberal.
This is a tricky demographic to gauge for prediction as it really depends on how important religion is to an individual.

31. Ideological Thinking
Most Americans don’t think about being “liberal” or “conservative.”
Studies show that political labels are not important to the majority of Americans as they are to politicians and activists.
Most Americans simply do not organize their beliefs in such a way to call themselves “liberal” or “conservative.” In fact, most Americans are centerists or moderates.

32. Political Participation
This includes all activities in which citizens take part to influence politics and policy.
There are two broad forms of political participation: conventional and unconventional.

33. Conventional Participation
This includes what we typically think of when it comes to political participation.
It also includes levels of participation that would not interrupt everyday life.
Voting
Petition
Campaigning (as a candidate or a supporter)
Volunteering and/or donating

34. Unconventional Participation
Unconventional participation is more intrusive and interruptive.
This is not to say that it is wrong, just that most people would choose not to participate in these ways.
Protests
Civil disobedience
Violence (stemming from a political issue)

35. Unconventional Participation
Protest: political participation through dramatic means to achieve enough attention to generate policy changes.

36. Unconventional Participation
Civil disobedience: a conscious decision to go against the government, including breaking the law and facing the consequences, in order to achieve specific policy change.
Usually thought of as peaceful protests, even though illegal activity may take place.

37. Unconventional Participation
Violence can apply pressure to the government to change policy because rather than send resources to every occurrence of violence, the policy change would resolve associated violence all at once.

38. Levels of Participation
Regardless of any and all differences, political participation in terms of voting in elections is usually low in the United States

40. Levels of Participation
Levels will also differ when considering demographic information.
Citizens with higher socio-economic status will have higher political participation levels. This statistic remains consistent even when changing how status is measured.

41. Levels of Participation
In terms of race, the participation gap is shrinking.
Many political scientists believe that this is because of a “group consciousness” within different minority groups that acts as an incentive to participate politically.

42. Levels of Participation
Participation also depends on how voters feel about voting.
Voter efficacy
“I believe I can have an effect on government by voting.”
Voter apathy
“My vote won’t make a difference, so why vote at all?”
Voter Apathy
Voter Efficacy

43. Levels of Participation
In terms of republican democracy, nonparticipation is also a form of participation.
Politicians are less likely to pay attention to those who don’t participate or those who participate less.
“Who gets what in politics depends in part on who participates.”