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COPYRIGHT © 2009 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN.
Chapter 6
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL ACTION
INTRODUCTION• Public Opinion
• The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues
• Demography
• The science of population changes
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
• The Immigrant Society
• United States is a nation of immigrants.
• Three waves of immigration:
• Northwestern Europeans (prior to late 19th Century)
• Southern and eastern Europeans (late 19th and early 20th centuries)
• Hispanics and Asians (the most recent – 20th century)
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.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
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
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND HISPANICS• About 24 percent of African Americans live below
poverty line
• The number of African American elected officials has increased by over 600 percent since 1970
• Hispanics outnumbered African Americans in 2000 census
• Members of these groups are more likely to vote than whites of the same income level
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
• The Regional Shift• Population shift from east to west
CENSUS
• The most valuable method for understanding demographic changes in US
• Required every 10 years by the Constitution
• Demographic changes in the US population could translate to political consequences through reapportionment which occurs after every census to reallocate seats in the House of Representatives
• Reapportionment can dramatically shift power between the regions
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
HOW AMERICANS LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• Most Americans learn about government through an
informal learning process.
• Political Socialization:
• “the process through which and individual acquires [their] particular political orientation”
• As people become more socialized with age, their political orientations grow stronger
THE PROCESS OF POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• Americans obtain most of their political
socialization from their families and their teacher
• Governments aim their socialization efforts primarily at the young• Average school age children spend more
time watching TV than they spend at school• The Family: Political leanings of children often
mirror their parents’ leanings• The older children get, the more TV
displaces parents as the chief source of information
HOW AMERICANS LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION
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.
HOW AMERICAN LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• Political Learning Over a Lifetime
• Aging increases political participation and strength of party attachment.
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
PUBLIC OPINION POLLS
• Because it would be prohibitively expensive to ask every citizen his or her opinion on a whole range of issues, polls rely on what is called a sample of the population.
• Random sampling is the key to accuracy• A sample small as about 1500 people can faithfully
represent the “universe” of Americans• Are only estimates because all surveys have a
sampling error
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
• Question wording may affect survey results
MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION
• The Role of Polls in American Democracy
• Polls may distort election process
• Exit Polls: used by the media to predict election day winners
• May discourage people from voting
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.
MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION
MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION
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
• Gender gap: women tend to be less conservative than men
• Ideological variation by religion too
WHAT AMERICANS VALUE: POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES• Do People Think in Ideological
Terms?• Ideologies: think in ideological
terms• Group Benefits voters: view
politics through party or group label
• Nature of the Times: view of politics based on whether times are good or bad
• No issue content: vote routinely for party or personality
Voters' Thought Processes
Group Benefits
42%
Nature of the Times
24%
No I ssue Content
22%
Ideologue12%
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
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
HOW AMERICANS PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS
• Class, Inequality, and Participation
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.
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.