Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Beliefs, Voting Behavior, and Influence of Social Groups

1. Chapter 11 Public Opinion and Political Socialization

2. Response Test • A • B • C • D 29

3. Response Which of the following refers to the beliefs about government citizens hold most deeply? • Ethnic pride • Party identification • Policy attitude • Group identity • Political culture 1

4. Political Culture • Beliefs about government and politics that people in the United States hold most deeply • Government uses public opinion to gauge the political culture of the U.S.

5. Response Which of the following statements about voting behavior is correct? • Men are more likely to vote than women • Blue-collar workers are more likely to vote than are professionals • Those with a lower education are more likely to vote than are college graduates • Democrats are more likely to vote than are Republicans • Senior citizens are more likely to vote than are college students 1

6. What is Public Opinion? • What the public thinks about a particular issue or set of issues at any point in time. • Decision makers use public opinion polls to gauge what the public is thinking.

7. How Congress Members Use Public Opinion • Gauge public interest • Help shape agenda/policy • Used by parties/candidates during election • Members of Congress vote based on strong public opinion expressed in polling results • Delegate role: Congress members act as a true representative, vote the way their people want. • Elections can hold members of Congress accountable to the opinions of the people

8. Response Which of the following is the leading predictor of how an individual will vote in a congressional election? • Newspaper endorsements • Gender • Presidential endorsement • Partisanship • Occupation 1

9. Factors that Decrease the Influence of Public Opinion • Legislator’s voting records • A candidate tends to vote some ways, regardless of what the voters think • Trustee role: Congress members are trusted to make the best decisions • Party Leadership in Congress: To gain the support of the party, members might vote with their party and against public’s opinion • Supreme Court Appointments • Serve for life, limits the opinion of the public • Appointed, cannot be removed no matter how unpopular the decision is

10. Response Of the following, the most important role in the political socialization of children is played by • Peer groups • Religion • Family • Media • School 1

11. Factors Influencing Opinion Formation • Family • School and Peers • Mass Media • Social Groups (Religion, Race, Gender, Age, and Region)

12. How Family and Peers Affect Opinion Formation • Family • #1 factor in opinion formation • Children tend to take on political views of their parents • School and Peers • More so as children get older. • High school can positively affect political participation.

13. Participant Leaders

14. What percentage of your current points would you like to wager on the next question? • 0% • 25% • 50% • 75% • 100%

15. Response Which of the following groups have historically been more supportive of the Democratic Party? • Caucasians • African Americans • Business leaders • College graduates • Senior Citizens 30

16. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation • Race and Ethnicity • African Americans more likely to vote Democratic • Whites more likely to vote Republican • Hispanics and Native Americans hold similar opinions on many issues • Differences within the Hispanic community • Cuban Americans more likely conservative • Hispanics of Mexican origin in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, or Colorado more likely Democratic.

17. Response A conservative would probably support which of the following? • Higher taxes • Scaling back laws that regulate industry • Affirmative action • Increasing access to abortions • Increasing the power of federal bureaucracies 10

18. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation • Religion • 20th Century: faith-based political activity occurred largely on the left. (Civil rights, improving living standards, abolition of death penalty) • Protestants most conservative • Jews most liberal • Regular church-goers vote Republican by a 2 to 1 margin

19. Response The fastest-growing age group in the United States is • Under 25 • 26-40 • 41-65 • Over 65 30

20. Participant Leaders

21. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation • Age • “Graying of America”: Population of the United States is getting older, especially the Baby Boomers. • Fastest growing age group in U.S. are citizens over 65 • Older people tend to vote more and be more involved. • Older people tend to favor government actions that favor them (Medicare, Social Security, tax breaks for the elderly, etc.)

22. 2008 v. 2012 Electoral College What are some similarities that you notice?

23. How Social Groups Affect Opinion Formation • Region • South • “Solid South” • Used to be primarily Democratic, until the 1960s • Today, tends to vote Republican • North • Less religious activity than the south • Less conservative than the south, but fairly Democratic region • West • Anti-government bias • People move to avoid city-life • West Coast/East Coast • Tend to be liberal and vote Democratic

24. Response Which of the following is most important for getting an accurate measure of public opinion? • Surveying only cell phone users • Selecting a random sample • Asking leading questions • Contacting only registered voters • Conducting the survey online 30

25. Characteristics of Valid Public Opinion Polls • Four factors determine the accuracy of a poll: • How the sample is selected: randomly (random sampling) • most important towards the accuracy • Representative sampling: every person has the same opportunity to be elected • The size of the sample: the larger the sample=more accurate results • Margin of Error: All polls contain a margin for error • Question Wording

26. Participant Leaders

27. What percentage of your current points would you like to wager on the next question? • 0% • 25% • 50% • 75% • 100%

28. Response Which of the following polls are used to provide information on where candidates stand in relation to their opponents during an election? • Exit polls • Push polls • Tracking polls • Slide polls • Straw polls 30

29. Political Polls • Push polls: polls designed to get a specific response • Untruthful/inaccurate information about other candidates • Tracking polls: Information on where candidates stand compared to other candidates • Horserace journalism • Exit polls: polls to gauge voter choices • Used by media to predict key races

30. The strength of the public’s feelings about an issue is known as • Intensity • Saliency • Stability • Intransigence • Zealotry 10

31. Shortcoming of Polls • Margin of error/Sampling error: all polls have errors, must be accounted for • Limited respondent options: hard to gauge a person’s feelings • Lack of information • Intensity/Wording of questions

32. Participant Leaders