1. Longman PoliticalScienceInteractive
Magleby & Light
Government by the People
Chapter 8
Public Opinion, Participation, and Voting
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

2. Recent Concerns about Voting
Florida 2000
Contested ballots
Outdated voting machines
Lingering perceptions of partisanship
Help America Vote Act 2002
Ohio 2004
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3. What is Public Opinion? Public Opinion
The distribution of individual preferences for or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population
The proper wording and phrasing of the questions are vitally important to producing reliable, objective data
Appropriate language and vocabulary
Neutral wording
Open-ended versus closed-ended
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4. The Way You Ask the Question Matters
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5. What is Public Opinion? DEFINE THE FOLLOWING: Intensity Latency
Salience
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7. How Do We Get Our Political Opinions and Values?
Political Socialization
The process, most notably in families and schools, by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs
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8. Agents of Socialization
Family
Schools
Media
Selective exposure: Choosing
the media with which one agrees
Religion
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9. Stability and Change in Public Opinion
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10. Public Opinion and Public Policy
“What I want is to get done what the people desire to be done, and the question for me is how to find that out exactly.”
- Abraham Lincoln
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11. Awareness and Interest
Knowledge Levels
Politics is not the major interest of most Americans, and as a result, knowledge about the political system is limited
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12. Awareness and Interest
Attentive Public
Interested in politics most of the time
Know and understand how the government works
Tend to be better educated and more committed to democratic values
25% of the public
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

13. Awareness and Interest
Nonvoters
Rarely interested in politics and public affairs
Rarely vote
As much as 35% of the public
Some in this category can be called “political know-nothings”
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman

14. Awareness and Interest
Part-time citizens
Participate selectively in elections, usually presidential only
Politics and government do not greatly interest them
Pay only minimal attention to the news
Rarely discuss candidates or elections with others
40% of the public
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15. Participation: Translating Opinions into Action
Only a small percentage of the American people are actively engaged in the political process, yet they receive most of the media attention
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16. Voting
In an effort to make registration easier, states have made registration forms available at motor vehicle stations, schools, public buildings, and even highway tollbooths
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17. Voting
Voter registration: A system designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents, including proof of residency
-Reduces voter turnout
-Instituted in the U.S. only in the late 1800s
-Most other democracies have automatic registration
-Recent reforms
- “Motor Voter” bill (1993)
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18. Turnout
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19. Voter Turnout Worldwide Source: IDEA data (based on average of elections since 1945)

20. Voter Turnout in Western Democracies
Average Turnout
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21. Why People Don’t Vote
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22. Who Votes? Race and ethnicity Gender Age
White 56.4%; Black 53.5%; Hispanic 27.5%
Gender
Men 53.1%; Women 56.2%
Age
18 to 24 = 32.3% (1992 = 42.8%; 1996 = 32.4% 2008 = 49%) WHY???
25 to 34 = 43.7%
38 to 44 = 55%
45 to 64 = 64.1%
65 and over = 67.6%

23. Mobilization Mobilizing the “base” (most loyal supporters)
Mobilizing “swing voters”
Canvassing
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24. WOLL READING BREAK “The Responsible Electorate” Pg. 216
Why does the author argue that the “voice of the people is but an echo”?
According to the author , what were the conclusions from the voting study literature about why people vote as they do?
What is the importance of theories about how voters behave?
What is the author’s “perverse and unorthodox argument”?

25. How Serious is Nonvoting?
A huge army of nonvoters “hangs over the democratic process like a bomb ready to explode and change the course of history.”
-Arthur Hadley
“I’m not going to shed any crocodile tears if people don’t care enough to vote….I’d be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote.”
- the late Senator Sam Ervin
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26. How Serious is Nonvoting?
Concerns about “class bias”
Negative effect on Democratic candidates
May indicate approval of the status quo
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27. Voting on the Basis of Party
Party Identification
An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood
In the absence of reasons to vote otherwise, people depend on party identification to simplify their voting choices
Dramatic increase in self-declared Independents since 1970s
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28. Voting on the Basis of Candidates
Candidate Appeal
How voters feel about a candidate’s background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities
1980s mark a critical threshold in the emergence of a candidate-centered era
Increasingly, campaigns focus on the negative elements of candidates’ history and personality
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29. Voting on the Basis of Issues
Prospective Issue Voting
Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected
Retrospective Issue Voting
Holding incumbents responsible for past performance on issues
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30. Counting Votes
Until the 2000 election, Americans took the counting of ballots for granted
Election officials must make judgment calls on incomplete/flawed ballots
Poll workers (regular people from the neighborhood) influence the security, efficiency, and overall environment of polling locations
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