Government

Public Opinion and the Models of Democracy

· Public opinion = the collective attitudes of citizens concerning a given issue or question.

· Public Opinion on a government policy can change over time.

· Example – public opinion on capital punishment has changed dramatically in the last 100 years.

· Example – segregation

· Example – same sex marriage

· Example – legalization of marijuana

· Citizens will give their public opinion on things they know nothing about.

· Example – people will give public opinion that lethal injection is more humane than hanging but is it really?

· The government responds to public opinion.

· Example – citizens in Texas support the death penalty and we have it in Texas – citizens in New Jersey are against the death penalty and they do not have it.

· The government does not always do what public opinion dictates.

· The framers wanted our government to be responsive to public opinion and wanted the government to do what the people wanted it to do.

· To respond to public opinion the government has to know what public opinion is on a certain topic.

· The government does not always know what people want.

· How do we know public opinion?

· Opinion polling – this is asking a small sample of citizens a question and using that to predict public opinion as a whole.

· Surveys did not become popular until the 50s when computers came out.

· Polling relies on sampling theory:

· This is the theory that a sample of individuals selected randomly from any population is representative of that population.

· The traits of the individuals in the sampling reflect the traits of the whole population – examples: attitudes, beliefs, sociological characteristics, physical characteristics.

· Things the pollsters do to get an accurate a sample as they can:

· 1 – divide the country into regions and contact same number of people from each region to make sure all regions of the US are represented.

· 2 – size of sample – the larger the sample is the more accurate it will be.

· Gallup and other national polling agencies will survey 1,500 people for each question and usually turn out accurate to within 3% of 95% every time.

· LOOK UP TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING FOR TODAY.

Political Socialization

· Public opinion is grounded in political values.

· Political values come from your political socialization – the complex process by which people acquire their political values.

· What things shape a person’s political socialization?

· Your family’s influence.

· Most people learn their party affiliation from their family – children imitate their parents and this is grounded in that principle. Over half of young voters identify with the same party as their parents.

· Your community influence.

· Different communities have different needs and priorities and what you see around you can impact what you want out of your government – hence your political affiliation and values.

· Your school influence.

· Schools introduce authority figures outside of the home (teacher, principle, police officer) and teach about our government – Pledge of Allegiance, national anthem, national heroes, holidays.

· Your religious influence or lack of religious influence.

· Does your religious preference or lack of it endorse any kind of political value?

· Example: if someone is Catholic they may have a strong stand on abortion per their religion.

· Influence of your peers.

· Do you agree with this?

· Media influence.

· We are about to talk about the media and it is fascinating and fun to explore this topic!

· Your educational level.

· Research shows that people with more education have a better understanding of political issues and higher education promotes tolerance of people that are not like you.

· Your income.

· People with more wealth usually want less government interference and less government programs.

· People with less wealth usually want more government programs and bigger government.

· Your region.

· Think North, East, South, and West – differing ways that income is produced – if you are a farmer you may have differing political opinions than if you are a lawyer and work in an office all day.

· Your race and ethnicity.

· Agree or disagree?

· Your gender.

· Research shows that women are more supportive of abortion rights, affirmative action, and government spending on social programs than men.

· Women are less supportive of the death penalty and going to war than men.