1. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Public Opinion and Political Action Chapter 6 Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy Thirteenth AP* Edition Edwards/Wattenberg/Lineberry

2. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Introduction Public Opinion – The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues Demography – The science of population changes Census – A valuable tool for understanding population changes – Required every 10 years by the Constitution

3. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 The American People The Immigrant Society – United States is a nation of immigrants. – Three waves of Immigration: Northwestern Europeans (prior to late 19 th Century) Southern and eastern Europeans (late 19 th and early 20 th centuries) Hispanics and Asians (late 20 th century)

4. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 The American People The American Melting Pot – Melting Pot: the mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation – Minority Majority: the emergence of a non- Caucasian majority – Political culture is an overall set of values widely shared within a society.

5. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 The American People The American Melting Pot (continued) – African Americans face a legacy of racism. – Hispanics are the largest minority group faced with the problem of illegal immigration. Simpson-Mazzoli Act: requires employers document citizenship of employee – Asian immigration has been driven by a new class of professional workers. – Native Americans: indigenous and disadvantaged

6. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 The American People The Regional Shift – Population shift from east to west – Reapportionment: the process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census

7. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 The American People The Graying of America – Fastest growing age group is over 65 – Potential drain on Social Security Pay as you go system In 1942, 42 workers per retiree In 2040, 2 workers per retiree

8. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 How Americans Learn About Politics: Political Socialization Political Socialization: – “the process through which and individual acquires [their] particular political orientation” – Orientation grow firmer with age The Process of Political Socialization – The Family Political leanings of children often mirror their parents’ leanings

9. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 How Americans Learn About Politics: Political Socialization The Process of Political Socialization (continued) – The Mass Media Chief source of information as children age Generation gap is viewing television news – School Used by government to socialize young into political culture Better-educated citizens are more likely to vote and are more knowledgeable about politics and policy. Political Learning Over a Lifetime – Aging increases political participation and strength of party attachment.

10. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information How Polls Are Conducted – Sample: a small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey to be representative of the whole – Random Sampling: the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample – Sampling Error: the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll

11. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information The Role of Polls in American Democracy – Polls help politicians detect public preferences. – But critics say polls make politicians think more about following than leading public Even though politicians do not track opinion to make policy – Polls may distort election process

12. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information The Role of Polls in American Democracy (continued) – Exit Polls: used by the media to predict election day winners May discourage people from voting 2000 presidential election in Florida – Question wording may affect survey results

13. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information What Polls Reveal About Americans’ Political Information – Americans don’t know much about politics. – Americans may know their basic beliefs but not how that affects policies of the government. The Decline of Trust in Government – Since 1964, trust in government has declined. – Trust in government has gone up somewhat since September 11.

14. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information Citizens Show Little Knowledge of Geography

15. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 What Americans Value: Political Ideologies Political Ideology: – A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public purpose Who Are the Liberals and Conservatives? – Predominance of conservative over liberal thinking – Currently about 38% conservative, 24% liberal, 38% moderate Gender gap: women tend to be less conservative than men Ideological variation by religion too

16. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 What Americans Value: Political Ideologies

17. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 What Americans Value: Political Ideologies Do People Think in Ideological Terms? – Ideologues: those who think in ideological terms (12 percent) – Group Benefits voters: view politics through party label (42 percent) – Nature of the Times: view of politics based on whether times are good or bad (24 percent) – No issue content: vote routinely for party or personality (22 percent)

18. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 How Americans Participate in Politics Political Participation: all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue Conventional Participation – Voting in elections – Working in campaigns or running for office – Contacting elected officials

19. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 How Americans Participate in Politics Protest as Participation – Protest: a form of political participation designed to achieve policy changes through dramatic and unconventional tactics – Civil disobedience: a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences

20. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 How Americans Participate in Politics Class, Inequality, and Participation

21. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Understanding Public Opinion and Political Action Public Attitudes Toward the Scope of Government – Many people have no opinion about scope of government. – Public opinion is inconsistent, which may lead to policy gridlock. Democracy, Public Opinion, and Political Action – Americans select leaders, but do they do so wisely? – If people know little about candidates’ issues, how can they? – People vote more for performance than policy.

22. Pearson Education, Inc., Longman © 2008 Summary American society is ethnically diverse and changing. Knowing public opinion is important to a democracy, just as polling has costs and benefits. Americans know little about politics. Political participation is generally low.

23. The Mass Media and the Political Agenda Chapter 7

24. Introduction Mass Media: – Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and other means of popular communication. High-tech politics: – A politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers and the political agenda itself are increasingly shaped by technology.

25. The Mass Media Today Media Events: – Events purposely staged for the media that nonetheless look spontaneous. Media events can be staged by almost anybody. Other items to consider: – 60% presidential campaign spending is TV ads – Image making / news management is important, especially for presidents

26. The Development of Media Politics Introduction – The news media wasn ’ t always so important. – Press Conferences: meetings of public officials with reporters- Roosevelt used many of these. – Investigative Journalism: the use of detective- like reporting to unearth scandals, scams & schemes putting reporters & politicians opposite each other.

27. The Development of Media Politics The Print Media – Newspapers and magazines – Rapid printing & cheap paper, along with telegraph technology grew the industry – As it grew, the companies were consolidated into chains – Now major corporations control most of the print media to compete with other news media

28. Figure 7.1 The Development of Media Politics

29. The Broadcast Media – Television (not cable or satellite) and radio – Brought government and politics into people ’ s homes – Made the politicians more aware of their appearance and mannerisms – Generally the top source of news for most Americans, and most believable

30. Table 7.1 The Development of Media Politics Narrowcasting: Cable TV and the Internet – Media programming on cable TV or the Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience.

31. Reporting the News Finding the News – Beats: Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, such as Congress or the White House. – Trial Balloons: An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction. – Reporters and their sources depend on each other- one for stories, the other to get them out

32. Figure 7.2 Reporting the News Presenting the News – Superficial describes most news coverage today – Sound Bites: Short video clips of approximately 15 seconds.

33. Reporting the News Bias in the News – Many people believe the news favors one point of view over another. – Generally not very biased along liberal / conservative lines. – But, generally are biased towards what will draw the largest audience.

34. The News and Public Opinion Television news can affect what people think is important. Some policies can be made more important, others will be less important, depending on their coverage. News commentators have the strongest effect.

35. The Media’s Agenda-Setting Function Policy Agenda: – The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time. Policy Entrepreneurs: – People who invest their political “ capital ” in an issue. – All depend on good images and good will.

36. Understanding the Mass Media The Media and the Scope of Government – The media as watchdog restricts politicians. – New proposals are met with skepticism- so that restricts what the government can do. – But, if the media identify a problem, they ask what the government is going to do to fix it.

37. Understanding the Mass Media Individualism and the Media – Candidates can now run on their own. – Easier to focus on one person like the President, than Congress or the courts. Democracy and the Media – “ Information is the fuel of democracy. ” – But, is the news more entertainment than information? Is this what the people want?