political
Phong2101
PS101chapter5.pptxChapter 5
Political Participation and Political Socialization
Public Opinion
Attitudes, preferences, thoughts, and feelings on a variety of issues.
Political Opinion
Attitudes, preferences, and beliefs on issues pertaining to politics.
Most Americans are generally known for being uninformed, misinformed, fickle (easily impacted and unstable) in their opinions.
Most Americans hold the following opinions in common:
Pride
Faith in government
Democratic values of freedom, equality, and consent.
Opinion Polling
A scientific method of collecting, calculating, and reporting data.
Provides factual evidence for claims
Quantitative instead of qualitative
Example: Focus groups
Topic/Subject
Population
Sample (Random)
Bias sources
Falsehood sources
Margin of error sources
Political Socialization
A lifelong learning process by which we acquire our political beliefs, values and norms which contributes to our political behavior or lack thereof.
Theories of Political Socialization
Social Learning Theory
Transfer Theory
Cognitive Development Theory
Agents of Political Socialization
Family
Peers
Education (primary and secondary education)
Media
Political leaders and political institutions
Residency (socio-economic status)
Demographics
Motivations for Political Participation
Political efficacy
Partisan identification
Civic sense of duty
Types/Forms of Political Participation
Following the news
Voting
Protesting, picketing, boycotting, marching, etc
Writing
Interest group activity
Political party activity
Running for public office
Volunteering
Community service
Education
Military service
Donating money
Unconventional Political Participation
Civil disobedience
Passive resistance
Political violence
Politically motivated crimes
Political tension and unrest
Verba/Nie Participant Typology
Inactives
Voting Specialists
Parochial Participants
Communalists
Campaigners
Complete Activists
The Rational Actor Model
Anthony Downs
“An Economic Theory on Democracy” – 1957
