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Chapter 6

PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL ACTION

INTRODUCTION• Public Opinion

• The distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues

• Demography

• The science of population changes

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

• The Immigrant Society

• United States is a nation of immigrants.

• Three waves of immigration:

• Northwestern Europeans (prior to late 19th Century)

• Southern and eastern Europeans (late 19th and early 20th centuries)

• Hispanics and Asians (the most recent – 20th century)

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

• The American Melting Pot

• Melting Pot: the mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples that has changed the American nation

• Minority Majority: the emergence of a non-Caucasian majority

• Political culture is an overall set of values widely shared within a society.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE• The American Melting Pot (continued)

• African Americans face a legacy of racism.

• Hispanics are the largest minority group faced with the problem of illegal immigration.

• Simpson-Mazzoli Act: requires employers document citizenship of employee

• Asian immigration has been driven by a new class of professional workers.

• Native Americans: indigenous and disadvantaged

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND HISPANICS• About 24 percent of African Americans live below

poverty line

• The number of African American elected officials has increased by over 600 percent since 1970

• Hispanics outnumbered African Americans in 2000 census

• Members of these groups are more likely to vote than whites of the same income level

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

• The Regional Shift• Population shift from east to west

CENSUS

• The most valuable method for understanding demographic changes in US

• Required every 10 years by the Constitution

• Demographic changes in the US population could translate to political consequences through reapportionment which occurs after every census to reallocate seats in the House of Representatives

• Reapportionment can dramatically shift power between the regions

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

• The Graying of America

• Fastest growing age group is over 65

• Potential drain on Social Security

• Pay as you go system

• In 1942, 42 workers per retiree

• In 2040, 2 workers per retiree

HOW AMERICANS LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• Most Americans learn about government through an

informal learning process.

• Political Socialization:

• “the process through which and individual acquires [their] particular political orientation”

• As people become more socialized with age, their political orientations grow stronger

THE PROCESS OF POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• Americans obtain most of their political

socialization from their families and their teacher

• Governments aim their socialization efforts primarily at the young• Average school age children spend more

time watching TV than they spend at school• The Family: Political leanings of children often

mirror their parents’ leanings• The older children get, the more TV

displaces parents as the chief source of information

HOW AMERICANS LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

HOW AMERICANS LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• The Process of Political Socialization (continued)

• The Mass Media• Chief source of information as children age

• Generation gap is viewing television news

• School• Used by government to socialize young into political culture

• Better-educated citizens are more likely to vote and are more knowledgeable about politics and policy.

HOW AMERICAN LEARN ABOUT POLITICS: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION• Political Learning Over a Lifetime

• Aging increases political participation and strength of party attachment.

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION

• How Polls Are Conducted• Sample: a small proportion of people who are chosen in a

survey to be representative of the whole

• Random Sampling: the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample

• Sampling Error: the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll

PUBLIC OPINION POLLS

• Because it would be prohibitively expensive to ask every citizen his or her opinion on a whole range of issues, polls rely on what is called a sample of the population.

• Random sampling is the key to accuracy• A sample small as about 1500 people can faithfully

represent the “universe” of Americans• Are only estimates because all surveys have a

sampling error

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION• The Role of Polls in American Democracy

• Polls help politicians detect public preferences.

• But critics say polls make politicians think more about following than leading public

• Even though politicians do not track opinion to make policy

• Question wording may affect survey results

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION

• The Role of Polls in American Democracy

• Polls may distort election process

• Exit Polls: used by the media to predict election day winners

• May discourage people from voting

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION

• What Polls Reveal About Americans’ Political Information• Americans don’t know much about politics.

• Americans may know their basic beliefs but not how that affects policies of the government.

• The Decline of Trust in Government• Since 1964, trust in government has declined.

• Trust in government has gone up somewhat since September 11.

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION

MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL INFORMATION

WHAT AMERICANS VALUE: POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

• Political Ideology:• A coherent set of beliefs about politics, public policy, and public

purpose

• Who Are the Liberals and Conservatives?• Predominance of conservative over liberal thinking

• Gender gap: women tend to be less conservative than men

• Ideological variation by religion too

WHAT AMERICANS VALUE: POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES• Do People Think in Ideological

Terms?• Ideologies: think in ideological

terms• Group Benefits voters: view

politics through party or group label

• Nature of the Times: view of politics based on whether times are good or bad

• No issue content: vote routinely for party or personality

Voters' Thought Processes

Group Benefits

42%

Nature of the Times

24%

No I ssue Content

22%

Ideologue12%

HOW AMERICANS PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS

• Political Participation: all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue

• Conventional Participation• Voting in elections• Working in campaigns or running for office• Contacting elected officials

HOW AMERICANS PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS

• Protest as Participation

• Protest: a form of political participation designed to achieve policy changes through dramatic and unconventional tactics

• Civil disobedience: a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences

HOW AMERICANS PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS

• Class, Inequality, and Participation

UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL ACTION

• Public Attitudes Toward the Scope of Government• Many people have no opinion about scope of government.

• Public opinion is inconsistent, which may lead to policy gridlock.

• Democracy, Public Opinion, and Political Action• Americans select leaders, but do they do so wisely?

• If people know little about candidates’ issues, how can they?

• People vote more for performance than policy.

SUMMARY

• American society is ethnically diverse and changing.

• Knowing public opinion is important to a democracy, just as polling has costs and benefits.

• Americans know little about politics.

• Political participation is generally low.