6 - Public Opinion, Political Socialization, and the Media (unfinished but im kinda lazy)

unfinished but im kinda lazy

Public opinion

What people think about an issue or set of issues at any given point in time

History of public opinion polling

Efforts to influence public opinion; polling began in the 1930s with straw polls (asking as many people as possible the same question); in 1936 George Gallup started his scientific polling; politicians want their own slant/spin on events

Political socialization

The process by which political attitudes are formed; political attitudes are grounded in values learned through political socialization

Factors of political socialization

FAMILY: parents teach you how to think and social skills; MASS MEDIA: TV, movies, internet, newspapers, magazines, social media; SCHOOLS: teach values of the American political system (flag salute, history and government class); SOCIAL GROUPS: religion, race, gender, age/generation, region; OPINION LEADERS: people of influence (ministry, teachers, doctors, celebrities); EVENTS: 9/11, JFK assassination, wars shape your views

Who votes?

Depends on income/occupation, education, sex/age, religious and ethnic background; you can register at the DMV

Psychological factors in voting

Party affiliation and identification; perception of a candidate's policies/image; feeling that your vote will make a difference

Liberal vs. moderate vs. conservative

LIBERAL: seeks to change the political, economic, or social status quo; MODERATE: person without extreme views; CONSERVATIVE: defender of the status quo who prefers moderation and slow change

Libertarianism and populism

LIBERTARIAN: based on individual freedom and limiting state power ("big government is evil"); POPULIST: claims to represent the "common people" against the elite

Why we form political opinions

PERSONAL BENEFIT: "me-oriented," people choose what benefits them (ex: elderly favor Social Security); POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE: Americans are highly literate (91% graduate high school) yet most don't know much about government; CUES FROM LEADERS: low public knowledge makes opinions hard to measure and opinions sway quickly

How officials measure public opinion

Election results, citizen contacts, letters to the editor, public opinion polls and surveys

How to form a fair poll

1. QUESTION WORDING: is the question biased? (ex: "Are you a true American and support the war?") 2. SAMPLING: who are you asking? Scientific random sampling is best; quota samples are good 3. CONTACTING RESPONDENTS: how do you contact people?

Types of political polls

TRACKING POLLS: continuous surveys that chart the rise and fall of support; PUSH POLLS: try to lead the subject to a specific conclusion; EXIT POLLS: ask people on election day as they leave polling stations

Problems with polling

SAMPLING ERROR: there's always a margin of error; LIMITED RESPONDENT OPTIONS: what if you don't like any answer choices?; LACK OF INFO: asking people about things they're clueless about; INTENSITY: polls don't measure how passionate people are

Census

Taken every 10 years; looks at age, socioeconomic makeup, gender, and ethnicity; TEST TIP: demographic questions will be about trends

What the 2020 census told us

Population is aging and stagnating; fastest growth in the South and West (gained seats in the House); greater diversity (diversity index rose from 54.9% in 2010 to 61.1% in 2020); lower births mean the economy goes down

Voting trends - gender

TREND: men lean Republican, women lean Democratic (gender gap). Men are nearly split (about 49% R vs. 48% D); women lean Democratic more clearly (about 52% D vs. 37% R). Young men (18-29) lean blue while older men (65+) lean red; women overall lean blue, but women 50-65 lean red

Voting trends - ethnicity

TREND: Asian, Black, and Hispanic voters tend to vote Democratic; white voters tend to vote Republican (about 54% R vs. 39% D)

Voting trends - education

TREND: the more education, the more Democratic. High school or less / no college degree lean slightly Republican (about 45 vs. 41-43, very close); some college is nearly split, leaning slightly Democratic (46 vs. 45); college grads lean Democratic; postgraduates lean strongly Democratic (61 vs. 34); less educated people are more likely to believe conspiracies

Voting trends - age

TREND (from notes): ages 18-29 and 30-49 lean Democratic; ages 50-64 lean Republican; 65+ lean Democratic

Voting trends - generations

TREND: people born in the 1940s and 1950s lean blue; 1960s and 1970s lean red (1970s about 47 vs. 50+); 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s lean blue (younger generations lean Democratic)

Mass media today

TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet; commercials are about 60% of presidential campaign budgets and are usually negative; media's main job for politicians (especially presidents) is image-making; presidents devote effort to public image and controlling media interaction (goes back to "us vs. them, everyone is out to get us")

History of mass media

Before the 1930s: Americans relied on print journalism; 1930s-40s: radio everywhere, people listened to FDR's fireside chats; by the 1950s: TV in every house; 1960: presidential debates on TV (radio listeners thought Nixon won, but TV viewers thought Kennedy won); 1980s-90s internet boom: huge variety of viewing options, smaller news audiences, end of the golden age of network news, news more continuous and offered through traditional news, independent journalists, and content creators

Print media

Newspapers = free press; the 1st Amendment lets newspapers expose government failures without fear of censorship; for most of American history newspapers made citizens the best informed in the world; newspapers are now in decline

Communications Act of 1934

Created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate interstate and foreign communication by wire and radio (TV, wire, satellite, cable); notes say it was "repealed" by the 1996 act (it was actually heavily amended/updated)

FCC structure

5 commissioners appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; serve 5-year terms; the president names the chair

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Loosened media ownership limits to promote competition and lower prices; allowed media conglomerates to get big

Media outside FCC authority

Streaming, social media, and algorithmic platforms now shape most political info and are outside FCC authority

Information via handheld devices

Easier to be politically informed, but people don't take advantage of it; social media (X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook) leads to fake news and misinformation; blogs/Substacks are easy to post but hard to get readers/followers; result of privately owned media/social media plus clickbait: distrust of media and people looking for independent sources

Types of news reporting

BEATS: specific locations where news comes from (Congress, White House); TRIAL BALLOONS: intentional news leaks to see political reaction; SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS: journalists rely on politicians for news and politicians rely on journalists to get their message out; FAKE NEWS: deliberate fabrication, often for political/ideological ends; SOUND BITES: short video clips about 7-10 seconds; MUSHROOMING: feeding the press junk and keeping them in the dark

Bias in the media

Studies show no systematic left/right bias, but journalists tend to be more liberal; many believe news favors one side; news is generally biased toward whatever draws the largest audience

"If it bleeds, it leads"

Entertainment over facts; visual appeal matters; viewers change the channel if they only see a "talking head" (common shot of a TV presenter talking directly to the audience); violence in the news gives people a certain impression of the world

News and public opinion

Media can affect what people think is important; influences the criteria people use to evaluate public leaders; some policies seem more or less important depending on coverage; if public demand is high, news programs provide that programming; public appetite is for entertainment over substance

FCC regulations

LIMIT MONOPOLIES: stop companies from dominating the market (waived in 2025 and 2026 by the FCC); SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST: rare for a station to lose its license for failing to; EQUAL TIME ("fair treatment") RULE: airtime offered to one candidate must be offered to others; RIGHT OF REPLY RULE: stations must let anyone attacked respond on the same standing (except news)

Fairness doctrine (abolished)

Broadcasters had to give equal time to opposing views on controversial topics; abolished because cable now offers a variety of opinions, so it no longer applies

Media conglomerates

The 1996 Telecommunications Act let media conglomerates get big; chains of the big 6 control most newspaper and broadcast media; Disney is biggest, Paramount and Warner next, then Comcast

Yellow journalism

Little or no legitimate, well-researched news; uses eye-catching headlines instead

Media's role in government

Provide political info; monitor politics and politicians; report government action/inaction; called the "4th branch of government"

Complaints about the media

Blamed for America's lack of knowledge; coverage of trivial news (Kardashians); the "fake news" trend (what does it even mean?); humans have an inherent bias and see things through their own lens and beliefs

Media agenda setting function

Policy agenda = topics the public believes are seriously important; media can set the agenda for what gets serious attention from public officials; interest groups, parties, and politicians all push their own priorities

Policy entrepreneurs

People who invest political capital in an issue; depend on good images and goodwill; examples: #MeToo movement supporting women, BLM, talking about healthcare

Media as a watchdog

The press keeps track of and helps make political reputations; national media investigate political personalities and expose scandals (ex: Watergate, uncovered by 2 journalists); new proposals are met with skepticism so the media can investigate them and keep government from doing bad things; media identify a problem and ask government what it will do to fix it

Individualism and the media

Internet and TV further individualism: give the public a chance to evaluate candidates directly and up close to guide voting; focus on individuals, so personality matters more than substance and coverage focuses more on the president than Congress or the Supreme Court

Democracy and the media

Info is the fuel of democracy; political competence could be greatly increased but sadly isn't; coverage is superficial by demand because of the profit motive (appealing to the biggest audience)