Public Opinion Chapter 7

1. Public OpinionChapter 7 Public Opinion & Political Socialization Theme A

2. Why is public policy at odds with public opinion? • Examples? • Gov’t created to achieve goals, NOT do what people want. • Checks & balances put in place to guard against factions, so no one could dominate (Pluralist) • Public opinion is hard to measure. • Political elites carry more weight & think differently than the average American.

3. Public Opinion • What is it? • The ideas and attitudes shared by a portion of the population • What does it take to measure public opinion? • Reliability and validity (Ex. Cincinnati) • Saliency (Ex.) • Unbiased questions (Ex.) • Significant numbers & unbiased samples • Informed public

4. Qualities of Public Opinion • Intensity- strength of position • Fluidity- ability to interpret position • Stability- extent to which public opinion stays constant • Relevance- extent to which an issue is of concern at a particular time • Political knowledge- the more active and knowledgeable someone is about politics • Diversity-How do you get diverse sample? • Direction-positive or negative Do Effects of Polling Sheet & Discuss!

5. Discuss Project Assignment • Process: • Word non-biased, open-ended question • Determine polling locations • Take down as many demographics as possible • Interpret results & information • Compile into a presentation • E-mail product/link or share with me me no later than 8:00 p.m. on December 1st. • Presentations are 12/02.

6. Political Socialization • What is political socialization? • The process by which children learn about values, beliefs and attitudes of political culture. What forces shape our political socialization?

8. Origins: Role of Family • First & most important force. • Links us to other socialization forces. • Party identification absorbed, but child becomes more independent with age. • The ability to pass on party ID declining • More consider themselves independent • Very rare to choose the opposite party • Children less influenced in regard to policy; Clear ideologies rarely passed on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHSYSIX4s7I

10. Origins: Religion • Political Socialization occurs through religious tradition • Catholic? More liberal on economic issues, conservative on social issues • Protestants? More conservative • Jews? More liberal • How does social status affect views? Ex.? • How does religious tradition affect views? Ex? • How was the Christian Coalition different from the Moral Majority? Explain 2 ways.

12. Origins of Political Socialization • The Gender Gap • Differences in the political views of men & women • Men increasingly identify with Republican • Women increasingly vote Democratic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evtKKQcaDA Demographics to illustrate! • Reasons? • Gun control, poverty spending, gay rights • Gender gap not unique to the US

13. Gender Gap in 2012 Vote Is Largest in Gallup's HistoryObama wins women's vote; Romney has eight-point edge among menby Jeffrey M. Jones • President Barack Obama won the two-party vote among female voters in the 2012 election by 12 points, 56% to 44%, over Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, Romney won among men by an eight-point margin, 54% to 46%. That total 20-point gender gap is the largest Gallup has measured in a presidential election since it began compiling the vote by major subgroups in 1952.

14. Assignment • Finish Chapter 7 reading: pp. 170-178. Take notes on cleavages and ideologies. Complete “How do we vote?” sheet. • Go to Symbaloo board and take the class ideology quiz (brown tile). Bring print out of grid placement to class on Tuesday. If you do not have a printer, draw the grid with all of the placements in it. • We will also use data from this week’s blog “tests” to compare.