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Public Opinion and Political Public Opinion and Political SocializationSocialization

Chapter 7

Public OpinionPublic Opinion

• Public Opinion– The collective political beliefs and

attitudes of the public, or groups within the public, on matters of relevance to the government.


• Salience– An issue’s importance to a person or

to the public in general.

• Stability– The speed with which a change will

occur, and the likelihood that the new opinion will endure.


• Direction– In public opinion, the tendency for or

against some phenomenon.

• Intensity– The strength of the direction of public

opinion.


• Consensus- General agreement among the

citizenry on an issue

• Divided Opinion- Public opinion that is polarized

between two quite different positions


• Sample– A subset of the whole population

selected to be questioned for the purpose of prediction or gauging opinions

• Population– An entire body of people, from which a

sample is selected and assumed to be representative.


• Random Sampling– A method of poll selection that gives

each person in a group the same chance of being selected

• Margin of Error.– A measure of the accuracy of a public

opinion poll.


• Sampling Techniques– Representative Sampling

• The Principle of Randomness– Every person should have a chance of being

sampled

• A purely random sample will be representative within the stated margin of error. The larger the sample of the population, the smaller the margin of error.

Problems with Opinion Problems with Opinion PollsPolls

• Issues respondents haven’t considered– People respond anyways to not look

unintelligent• Controversial issues

– Give a socially correct response rather than the truth

• Opinions on things like race and gender– People will hide their racial and gender bias

until entering the voting booth• Question wording

– How a question is worded can greatly influence the response.

Political SocializationPolitical Socialization

• Political Socialization– The learning process in which

individuals absorb information and selectively add it to their knowledge and understanding of politics and government.


• Sources – The Family and the Social

Environment– Education as a Source of Political

Socialization– Peers and Peer Group Influence – Opinion Leaders’ Influence– Media Presentation of Political Issues


• Political events can produce a long-lasting impact on opinion formation.

• Examples: Great Depression, McCarthyism, Vietnam, Watergate, Iran Contra, Lewinski-gate, Iraq War II


• Generational Effect– Situation in which younger citizens

are influenced by events in such a fashion that their attitudes and beliefs are forever rendered distinct from those of older generations. (Vietnam Era)


• Period Effect– An event that influences the attitudes

and beliefs of people of all ages who experience it. (Great Depression, September 11th)

Political IdeologyPolitical Ideology

• Ideology– Consistent set of ideas about a given

set of issues.


• Economic Liberals- Those who believe government should

do more to assist people who have difficulty meeting their economic needs on their own.

• Economic Conservatives- Those who believe government tries

to do too many things that should be left to firms and economic markets.


• Social Conservatives- Those who believe government power

should be used to uphold traditional values.

• Social Liberals- Those who believe it is not

government’s role to buttress traditional values at the expense of unconventional or new values.


• Libertarians- Those who believe government tries

to do too many things that should be left to firms and markets, and who oppose government as an instrument for upholding traditional values.

- Combination of economic conservative and social liberal.


• Populists- Those who believe government

should do more to assist people who have difficulty meeting their economic needs and who look to government to uphold traditional values.

- Combination of economic liberal and social conservative.