public opinion and politics

Public Opinion and Politics

I. Background
  • Definition of Public Opinion: Openly expressed political views of ordinary members of the public.
  • Factors Affecting Public Opinion: Political culture, ideology, group attachments.
  • Measurement: Primarily through opinion polls using probability sampling.
II. Politics and Public Policy
  • Definition of Politics: Process of determining who governs and how power is exercised.
  • Democracy and Elections: Voter opinion is more significant in U.S. politics than general public opinion due to low voter turnout.
  • Definition of Public Policy: Decisions made by public officials in response to public problems.
    • Public opinion's influence on policy is limited by several factors.
III. Influences that Shape Public Opinion
A. Political Culture and Ideals
  • Definition of Political Culture: Deep-seated beliefs about government and politics.
  • Core American Political Ideals: Liberty, Individualism, Equality, Democracy, Capitalism.
B. Political Socialization
  • Definition of Political Socialization: Lifelong learning process of acquiring political opinions, beliefs, and values.
  • Stages: Children acquire basic ideas, adolescents gain knowledge, early adulthood crystallizes views.
  • Agents: Family, Schools, Mass Media, Peers, Opinion Leaders, Major Life Events.
C. Ideology
  • Definition of Ideology: Cohesive set of beliefs forming a philosophy about government's role.
  • Main U.S. Ideologies:
    • Liberalism: Government intervention in economics, opposed to intervention for traditional values.
    • Conservatism: Government action for traditional values, opposed to economic intervention.
    • Populism: Government involvement in both economic regulation and traditional values.
    • Libertarianism: Opposition to government action in economic and traditional value matters.
D. Group Attachments
  • Definition: Viewing politics through group orientation or affiliation.
  • Major Group Orientations: Religion, Economic Class, Geographic Region, Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Age.
IV. The Measurement of Public Opinion
A. Public Opinion Polls
  • Definition: Primary tools for gauging public opinion by sampling a small proportion of the population.
  • Reliability: Relies on probability (random) sampling with typical sample sizes of ~$1,000 individuals.
  • Sampling Error: Measures difference between sample views and overall population views; ~$ \pm 3 percentage points for a sample of ~$1,000$$$.
B. Problems with Polls
  • Issues: Telephone polling problems (non-responses, lack of phones), and question wording bias.
V. The Influence of Public Opinion in Politics
A. Role of Public Opinion
  • Less dominant due to low voter turnout (e.g., ~$40\%$ of adults don't vote in presidential elections).
  • Voter demographics often don't reflect general public diversity (e.g., voters are older, more educated).
B. Public Opinion's Influence on Policy
  • Officials consider public opinion on visible issues, but influence is limited by:
    • Inconsistency: Conflicting voter preferences (e.g., balanced budget vs. no tax increases).
    • Uninformed or Misinformed Public: Lack of understanding or reliance on misleading information.
    • Influence of Leaders: Leaders can shape public opinion (e.g., President G. W. Bush and Iraq war).
VI. Summary
  • Public opinion is openly expressed political views, shaped by political culture, socialization, ideology, and group attachments.
  • Political socialization is the lifelong learning of political beliefs from various agents.
  • Ideologies like liberalism, conservatism, populism, and libertarianism define government roles.
  • Group affiliations significantly influence political opinions.
  • Polls measure public opinion reliably with random sampling but face challenges like non-response and question wording.
  • Public opinion's influence on policy is limited by low voter turnout, inconsistency, public misinformation, and leaders shaping views.
VII. Review Questions
  1. What is public opinion?
    • Openly expressed political views of ordinary members of the public.
  2. Influences on Public Opinion?
    • Political culture, socialization, ideology, and group attachments.
  3. Define Political Culture:
    • Deeply held beliefs or ideals about government and politics within a society.
  4. Core ideals in American Political Culture:
    1. Liberty
    2. Individualism
    3. Equality
    4. Democracy
    5. Capitalism
  5. What is an ideology?
    • A cohesive set of beliefs or values forming a philosophy about government.
  6. Main U.S. Ideologies:
    • Liberalism, Conservatism, Populism, Libertarianism.
  7. Define Random Sampling and Sampling Error:
    • Random sampling is selecting poll participants randomly.
    • Sampling error measures the variance between the sample’s views and the entire population.
  8. Public Opinion Limitations on Policymakers:
    • Public opinion can be inconsistent, uninformed, and sometimes shaped by policy leaders.