Public Opinion

Is the federal government truly of the people, by the people, and for the people? Large budget deficit, public opinion says people

want a balanced budget Busing ordered to balance schools racially, but

people oppose busing. ERA not ratified, yet people supported it. No term limits, yet most people support them.

What is public opinion?

California- Monetary Control Bill example.

Americans are typically poorly informed about government and care little about most public policy issues, but they are good at using limited information to figure out what policies, parties, or candidates most nearly reflect their values or favor their interests and voting accordingly.

Polling

Keys to see if polling is good: Are the questions comprehensible? Are the questions worded fairly? Is the poll done using a random sample? What is the sampling error?

Exit polls: interviews with randomly selected voters conducted at polling places on election day in a representative sample of voting districts.

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

Political socialization- Process by which background traits influence one’s political views.

Typically, elites hold a different view of politics than the average citizen.-More likely to have a consistent set of opinions about the policies government ought to pursue.

Family

Children same party as parents, but declining

Crossovers are independents

Party identification higher than beliefs

Young people tend to be more liberal on issues such as gay marriage, yet more conservative on issues such as vouchers and privatization of social security. (Figure 7.1)

Religion

Religious influences on public opinion are most pronounced on social issues, and less evident in other policy areas.

Refer to Table 7.1 and views on school prayer by religious groups.

Religion

Political conservatives not necessarily more religious than political liberals

Occupation

Occupation can play a role in public opinion, especially with labor unions.

Professionalization: Identifying with one’s profession

School

Engrain civic duty

College tends to make people more liberal

New and more ideas

Liberal professors

More degrees, more liberal

Beginning to change a little bit. College students getting information from sources other than newspapers and magazines.

Mass Media

Liberal media (Newspaper editorial boards, MSNBC, news magazines

Conservative media (Talk Radio, FOX News, Wall Street Journal)

Contact with Governmental StructuresOpinions shaped by positive or negative dealings with:

Tax authorities

School Officials

Police

Others?

Region

Northern Liberals

Southern Conservatives

New England independence

Texas conservative

California liberal but anti-immigrant

Class

Most view themselves as middle class

Not important voting factor

Other issues (abortion, prayer, arms control, environmentalism) more important

While there are economic differences among members of the different parties, these differences are typically not based on economic issues.

Gender

Gap between men and women in political views.

Women tend to favor Democrats, while men favor Republicans.

Figure 7.2- Women are more likely to view certain issues as very important than men.

Race and Ethnicity

African-Americans overwhelmingly Democratic.Latinos trending Democrat.Asian-Americans even more Republican than Anglo whites.Difficult to make generalizations on beliefs from race to race. Even though you make generalizations about party ID, the beliefs can be quite diverse.

TRENDS IN AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE

Crosscutting Cleavages

“Divisions within society that make groups more heterogeneous.”

Differences do not reinforce each other

Lessens the importance of these differences

Multiple allegiance

Ideology

“Coherent and consistent set of beliefs about who ought to rule, what principles rulers ought to obey, and what policies rulers ought to pursue”

Liberals

Increase taxes for wealthy

Government intervention for employment, welfare, other social programs

Affirmative action

Decriminalizing “victimless crimes”

Rights of the accused

Pro-Choice Free Trade Liberalism in Europe

Pure Liberal Demographics

20% of population (2009)

Young

College

Jewish or nonreligious

Conservatives

Lower taxes

Victim Rights

Little government intervention

Older

Higher incomes

Midwest

White

Libertarians

Very little government interventionEconomic conservativesSocial LiberalsYoungCollegeWhiteNonreligiousWestHigher Incomes

Populists

Economic liberalsSocial conservativesReduce inequalitiesHard on crimeSchool prayerOlderLow incomeReligiousFemaleSouth/Midwest

Self-Identification of Ideology by Americans

Gallup Poll (2009) 40% Conservative 36% Moderate 20% Liberal

Gallup Poll (2010) Democrat or Leaning Democrat- 44%, down from

49% in 2009 Republican or Leaning Republican- 40%, down

from 41% in 2009 Independent- 16%, up from 10% in 2009

Left Wing Political Spectrum

Communists"Pure democracy"Classless Society

Government not needed

SocialistsEuropean Countries

Welfare StateEquality of Condition

DemocratsExtreme to Moderate

High TaxesPro-Choice

Left Wing

Right Wing Political Spectrum

Republicans Moderate to ExtremePro-Life/Pro Choice

Low Taxes

Christian RightMoral Majority

Pro-LifePrayer in schools

Neo-Nazis/FascistsKKK

RacistsAnit-immigrant

Right WingConservatives