1 / 19

Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice

Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice. Chapter 6. V. O. Key, Jr. To speak with precision of public opinion is a task not unlike coming to grips with the Holy Ghost. Political Socialization: The Origins of Americans’ Opinions.

gabe
Download Presentation

Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice Chapter 6

  2. V. O. Key, Jr. To speak with precision of public opinion is a task not unlike coming to grips with the Holy Ghost.

  3. Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ Opinions • Public opinion: opinions of citizens that are openly stated • The Measurement of Public Opinion • Public Opinion- the opinions of private individuals become public when they are expressed publicly • Facial expression • Voting • Letters to the editor • Lobbyist activities • Public protests or demonstrations • Yard signs/ bumper stickers

  4. As a concept or force in American politics, public opinion is elusive, powerful, inexact and contradictory

  5. Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ Opinions • How Informed Is Public Opinion? • In comparison to Europeans, Americans’ awareness of public affairs is lower • Who first said “a government of the people, by the people, for the people?” • Abraham Lincoln- ¾ of Ivy League students surveyed missed this question • Civic Literacy Test- Avg. college senior scored an “F” • Political culture: the characteristic and deep-seated beliefs of a particular people about government and politics

  6. Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ Opinions • Political socialization process • Political Socialization- the process by which individuals acquire their opinions • Childhood learning is paramount • Process is cumulative: political affiliations usually grow firmer with age

  7. Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ Opinions • Primary political socialization agents • Family • Family is the strongest of all agents of socialization • Schools • Church • Scholars have not studied the effects of religion as well as schools or family, but it is a powerful influence • most evident in social policy issues i.e. abortion, school prayer, etc.

  8. Influence of Religion

  9. Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ Opinions • Secondary political socialization agents • Peers • Media • Political Institutions and Leaders

  10. Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically • Frames of reference: reference points by which individuals evaluate issues and developments • Party identification • Party identification: emotional loyalty to a political party; not formal membership • Americans = 1/3 Dem +1/3 Ind. +1/3 GOP • Party loyalties are not as stable as once was thought • Partisanship based on economic circumstances and policy traditions • Affirmative Action- Dems. • Less Gun Control- Repubs. • Major shifts in loyalty rare and in younger adults • Partisanship can lead to selective perception

  11. Partisanship and Issue Opinions

  12. Party Differences

  13. Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically • Ideological Thinking: The Outlook for Some • Ideology • Consistent pattern of opinion on particular issues from a basic underlying belief • Only a minority truly understand and apply ideological frames of reference • Liberals • For gov. intervention in economics; opposed to intervention in social sphere • Conservatives • Opposed to gov. intervention in economics; for intervention in social sphere • Libertarians • Opposed to gov. intervention in economic & social spheres • Populists • For gov. intervention in economic & social spheres

  14. Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically • Group Thinking: The Outlook of Many- people rely on groups to which they belong as reference points for opinions • Religion • Economic Class • Region • Race and Ethnicity • Gender • Generations and Age • Crosscutting Cleavages

  15. Gender and the Iraq Conflict

  16. The Measurement of Public Opinion • The measurement of public opinion • Traditional method: election results • Public opinion polls: primary method • Measure public opinion using randomly chosen population sample(s) and carefully constructed interviews • Elected officials frequently respond to polls based on random samples of constituents • Gallup- predicted every POTUS election winner since 1936 (except 1948)Dewy- Truman • Most large news organizations have their own in-house polls • Samples—estimation of population’s views • Accuracy of a poll—expressed by sampling error • A poll of 1000 people would have a sampling error of +/- 3%

  17. The Measurement of Public Opinion • Problems with polls • Most relied upon way to measure public opinion, however: • Polls can be erroneous at times- 1948- Dewy- Truman • Other problems • Unrepresentative samples • Increasing refusal to participate in telephone polls • Polled individuals unfamiliar with issues • Poorly trained interviewers • Dishonesty by respondents • Poorly worded questions and poor question order • Non-opinions

  18. The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy • Disagreement over how much public opinion affects policy, and how much it should affect policy • People’s view should prevail. • Some counter that elite opinion prevails. • Limits on public influence • Inconsistencies in citizens’ policy preferences • Citizens’ lack of understanding of issues • Mastery of issues not necessary for opinion to be of value, but some issues require understanding

  19. The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy • Public opinion and the boundaries of action • Some policy actions outside boundaries of public acceptability • Greater the level of public involvement, the more likely officials will respond to public sentiment • Even on popular issues, leaders have some discretion • Leaders can influence public opinion through concerted effort

More Related