Unit 2.3: Do Opinions Fit Into Categories?

1. Unit 2.3: Do Opinions Fit Into Categories? “It looked like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.” –Phillip Marlowe, Private Eye (from The Big Sleep)

2. How Do We “Get” Our Political Beliefs Method by which individuals become part of a political culture, political ideology, and sometimes take specific positions on specific issues through social influences. This accounts for most stances. • Political Socialization • The Filial Monopoly • Community Institutions • Church of Latter-Day Saints • YMCA Programs • Work Environment • Hewlett-Packard Home Office • Freelance Electrician • Media + Culture (NOT news) • Glee or Modern Family • Dallas or Gunsmoke • Educational System • Primary • Secondary • Tertiary The family has a monopoly on time, affection, information, and connections at a young age, so has a profound ability to affect socialization. Broadly speaking, primary education cultivates civic symbols, secondary civic knowledge, and tertiary cultivates civic analysis.

3. Do Our Politics Change? Generally speaking, people over the age of 35-45 form more political opinions and participate in more political activity than younger people. • Age and Politics • Change Over Time • The “Boomer”rang? • Rebellion: Does It Stick? • Class and Participation • Education and Participation • The “High School” Barrier • The “Some College” Barrier • The “Graduate Work” Barrier People with more income and more net worth are more likely to participate in politics in a variety of ways – much, much more likely.

4. Do Our Politics Change? • Race and Participation • African-Americans • Latinos • Obama 2008 • Mystery of Missing Asians • Sex and Participation • ‘The Gender Gap’ • Clinton 1992 • Parents and Participation • Soccer Mom / NASCAR Dad • Stakeholder Theory Women vote, volunteer, fundraise, and generally participate 3-8% more than men, depending on the election.

5. Do Our Politics Change?

6. Putting Politics Into Action Participating in politics through formal, pre-accepted, politically controlled channels. • Conventional Participation • Donations to campaign • Donations to interest group • Volunteering for a campaign • Communicating with politician • Going to Town Hall meetings • Attending candidate’s rally • Unconventional Participation • Civil disobedience • Protests and direct action • Guerrilla marketing • Mediated participation Participating in politics through unofficial, informal, socially less accepted, or less politically controlled channels.

7. Why Categorize Beliefs Specific policy or area of policy. Voters who evaluate politicians based only on their stance towards one particular issue. • Issue • Single-Issue Voters • Abortion (Pro-Choice/Anti-Abortion) • ‘Debt Hawks’ (Cut spending) • NRA Voters (Gun laws) • Ideology • Ideologically Motivated Voting • Representative Democracy • Requires Platforms • Limited public knowledge • Ideologies are necessary • Twilight of the single-issues? Coherent way of viewing and linking together many policy positions and guiding future policy decisions based on an abstract principle.

8. Modern Political Ideologies • Modern Economic Conservatism • Minimize government intervention in economic affairs. • Right-To-Work Legislation • Keystone Oil Approval • Commodities Future Act. • Minimize taxation • 2003 Bush Tax Cuts • 1983 Reagan Tax Rewrite • Reduce government spending • ‘I will cut five agencies…’ • Paul Ryan Budget • Supply-Side Economics • Outsource and privatize

9. Modern Political Ideologies • Modern Social Conservatism • Unify society, political cultures • Exclusive national language • Christian symbolism and traditions • Reduce multiculturalism • Empower social institutions • Faith-Based Initiatives Office • Reduction of social welfare state • Encourage specific moral attitude. • Abstinence-Only Sex Ed • Defense Of Marriage Act • Harsher, more punitive legal code. • Goal of better social behavior

10. Modern Political Ideologies • Modern Economic Liberalism • Preserve people’s economic welfare (in bad times) • Unemployment benefits • SNAP (Food Stamps) • Social Security • Government should take on demanding non-defense projects • National Institutes of Health • Space program • Government manages, regulates some resources and services • Medicare/Medicaid, Obamacare • Environmental Protection Agency • Balance taxation and spending • Keynesian Economics

11. Modern Political Ideologies • Modern Social Liberalism • Promote social tolerance • 1964 Civil Rights Act • Hate Crimes Laws • ‘Diversity Curriculum’ in schools • Dearborn, MI – Localities protected • Multiculturalism • Equalize/distribute social institutions and opportunities • Community Grants, Affirmative Action • Women’s Equal Pay Act • Protect social choices and cushion bad social choices • Rehabilitative justice system • Defense of Marriage Act battle. • Access to abortion services

12. Modern Foreign-Policy Ideologies • Neoconservatism • Limit international cooperation • Unilateralism • 2003 invasion of Iraq • Bush Doctrine • Failure of Kyoto Treaty • Foreign policy is a moral issue • Trade barriers with China • ‘Axis of Evil’ Speech • Spread Democracy / Intervention • Neoconservatism at home • Traditional values vs modernism • Social welfare state is valuable • Security before trade

13. Modern Foreign-Policy Ideologies • Neoliberalism • Engage in diverse int’l organizations • Multilateralism, increased UN support • “G7”, “G8,” Organization of Am. States • Engage in cooperative ventures • 1991 – First Gulf War • International Monetary Fund (IMF) • Lower trade + investment barriers • N. American Free Trade Ass’n (NAFTA) • World Trade Organization (WTO) • At home: ‘Third Way’ Liberalism • Privatize state-owned businesses • Loosen regulations on some industries • Open markets to wide competition • Liberalism with less Econ. Liberalism

14. Photo Credits http://www.newstimeafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Former-UN-Head-Kofi-Annan.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q84mF3uGEiU/T4b2xKlE00I/AAAAAAAAB9w/uC-phB0Q8m4/s1600/condoleezza.jpg http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/president-george-w-bush.jpg http://loop21.com/sites/all/files/NAN-march-AM.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEDYGP1-wss/T6RV1m1FJ5I/AAAAAAAABbA/h4THOz66SP4/s1600/topimg_14132_raghuram_rajan_600x400.jpg http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/Sonia%20Sotomayor.jpg http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/lyndon-b-johnson/lyndon-b-johnson-color.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rgnUrSIRzUk/T4f_XgU0JcI/AAAAAAAAEEY/4Ddlcv1Tzko/s1600/FDR%2BII.jpg http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/art.obama.speech.cnn.jpg http://www.cc.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/spotlight_image_for_front_top_slide/spotlight_images/vote_pray.jpg http://www.nwhistorycourse.org/ttcourse/Year3/unit3/week12/img/Reagan81TaxChart250.gif http://scm-l3.technorati.com/12/03/06/65405/Sarah-Palin.jpg?t=20120306212825 http://www.rightcelebrity.com/wp-content/photos/Tom_Delay_1.jpg http://images1.dailykos.com/i/user/3/Grover_Norquist.jpg http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6D1TtbHdVNeAnOya-GQb15lt8KHetZ2bqfgUC8IRnCZA8wTV9VJyEEZ7bkQ http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/files/2012/02/minimumwage.jpg http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/ap_romney_colorado_rally_nt_120107_wmain.jpg http://blog.mlive.com/elections_impact/2008/11/large_20081103-voting-line-los-angeles-twitter.jpg http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gfeldmeth/41946608.jpg http://jumpingpolarbear.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/kennedyfamily.jpg http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/11-3-11%20Generations%20Release.pdf http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/reports/90.pdf http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/517.pdf http://www.people-press.org/2009/05/21/section-8-politics-and-political-participation/ http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-562.pdf http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2199/barack-obama-mitt-romney-republcians-democrats-job-approval-debt-ceiling-income-inequality-congressional-elections-tea-party

15. Modern Political Ideologies Statistically sound method of determining what a demographic group thinks about something through sampling and questioning. • Modern Democratic Socialism Phone numbers are generated randomly within a neighborhood “exchange” and called – now includes cell phones. Idea that any person in the demographic should have an exactly equal chance of being polled, so the people polled will mirror the opinions of the whole demographic accurately.

16. Modern Political Ideologies Statistically sound method of determining what a demographic group thinks about something through sampling and questioning. • Modern Autocracy Phone numbers are generated randomly within a neighborhood “exchange” and called – now includes cell phones. Idea that any person in the demographic should have an exactly equal chance of being polled, so the people polled will mirror the opinions of the whole demographic accurately.

17. Modern Political Ideologies Statistically sound method of determining what a demographic group thinks about something through sampling and questioning. • Fascism Phone numbers are generated randomly within a neighborhood “exchange” and called – now includes cell phones. Idea that any person in the demographic should have an exactly equal chance of being polled, so the people polled will mirror the opinions of the whole demographic accurately.