Chapter 4 Public Opinion

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Chapter 4 Public Opinion

• American Government
• Policy Politics,
• Eighth Edition
• TANNAHILL

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In This Chapter We Will Cover

• Political socialization
• Measuring public opinion
• Political knowledge
• Support for democratic principles
• Political trust and political legitimacy
• Political efficacy
• Political philosophy

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Political Socialization

• Political socialization is the process whereby
  individuals acquire political knowledge,
  attitudes, and beliefs.

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Political Socialization

• Agents of Socialization
• Family
• Politically active parents have politically
  active kids. Initial party affiliation of the
  child is the same as his or her parents 60
  percent of the time. Parental influence
  diminishes over time.
• School
• Civics instruction enhances knowledge about
  government, encourages interest in current
  affairs, and teaches patriotism.

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Political Socialization

• Religious institutions
• Personal involvement in religious organizations
  is associated with increased political
  participation.

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Political Socialization

• Peer groups
• The impact of a peer group on an individuals
  political views depends on the significance of
  the group to the individual.

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Political Socialization

• Media
• Political participation is closely associated
  with media usage.
• Media determines the relative importance
  Americans attach to various problems.

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Measuring Public Opinion

• Sampling
• Researchers are able to study a large population
  (a universe) by examining a subset (sample) of
  that population.
• A properly chosen sample will reflect the
  universe within a given margin of error.
• Example The margin of error for a sample of
  1,065 persons out of a universe of 500,000 or
  more is a plus or minus of 3 percentage points,
  95 percent of the time.

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Margins of Error for a Universe Greater than
500,000
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Measuring Public Opinion

• Question Wording
• A good sample is worthless if the questions are
  not valid.
• Consider the following three examples

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Measuring Public Opinion

• If you are now covered by Medicare, or if you
  soon will be, would you be willing to pay higher
  premiums, deductibles, or income tax surcharges
  for (a) catastrophic hospital coverage (b)
  catastrophic nursing home coverage (c) both (d)
  neither?

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Measuring Public Opinion

• This question is too confusing. It is not clear
  what is being asked.

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Measuring Public Opinion

• Do you believe abortion should be legal? (a) yes
  (b) no (c) no opinion.

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Measuring Public Opinion

• The question is oversimplified. Many people
  believe that abortion should be legal under
  certain circumstances but illegal under others.
  The question with its oversimplified answer
  alternatives would force these people to misstate
  their views.

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Measuring Public Opinion

• Do you favor or oppose a real Patients Bill of
  Rights that would protect Americans from abuses
  by HMOs?

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Measuring Public Opinion

• This question is biased. A biased question is
  one that produces results tilted to one side or
  another. By asking respondents if they favor a
  real Patients Bill of Rights that would
  protect Americans from abuses by HMOs, the
  authors of the question are loading it in favor
  of support for Patients Bill of Rights. After
  all, who is in favor of HMO abuse?

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Measuring Public Opinion

• Attitudes, non-attitudes, and phantom opinions
• Sometimes respondents make up responses to
  questions about which they have little or no
  knowledge because they do not want to appear
  uninformed.

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Measuring Public Opinion

• Interviewer-respondent interaction
• The race or gender of an interviewer can affect
  survey results when sensitive issues are involved.

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Measuring Public Opinion

• Timing
• Surveys are only snapshots of public opinion.
  Using poll results to predict the future can be
  risky.

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Political Knowledge

• Although some Americans are quite knowledgeable
  about public affairs, a majority of the nations
  adults cannot accurately name their own
  representative in Congress, identify the Bill of
  Rights, or name the three branches of government.

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Political Knowledge

• Men know more about politics than do women.
• Wealthy people are more knowledgeable than are
  poor persons.
• Republicans know more than Democrats.
• Well-educated people are better informed than
  people with less formal schooling.

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Support for Democratic Principles

• Political scientists identify three factors
  accounting for the preservation of political
  freedom in the United States despite the
  ambivalence and occasional hostility of many
  Americans to civil liberties.
• The Constitution provides the legal foundation
  for individual rights.
• Because Americans do not agree on which groups
  should be suppressed, they are unable to unite
  behind undemocratic public policies.
• Political elites (those with major influence on
  policymaking) support democratic principles in
  specific situations, not just in the abstract.

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Political Trust And Political Legitimacy

• Political trust is essential to political
  legitimacy in a democracy.
• Political legitimacy is the popular acceptance of
  a government and its officials as rightful
  authorities in the exercise of power.

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Political Efficacy

• Political Efficacy is the extent to which
  individuals believe they can influence the
  policymaking process.
• Internal political efficacy is an assessment by
  an individual of his or her personal ability to
  influence the policymaking process.
• External political efficacy is an assessment of
  an individual of the responsiveness of government
  to his or her concerns.

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Political Philosophy

• Liberalism is the political philosophy that
  favors the use of government power to foster the
  development of the individual and promote the
  welfare of society.

• Conservatism is the political philosophy that
  government power undermines the development of
  the individual and diminishes society as a whole.

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Opinion Differences Among Groups

• Social Class
• Lower-income persons are more liberal than
  middle- and upper-income people on social welfare
  issues but less supportive of civil rights for
  African Americans than are middle-income whites.

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Opinion Differences Among Groups

• Race and Ethnicity
• African Americans and Hispanics hold views that
  are generally more liberal than non-Hispanic
  white Americans.

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Opinion Differences Among Groups

• Religion
• In contemporary American politics, the religious
  right is more influential than the religious left.

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Opinion Differences Among Groups

• Generation
• Younger Americans are more tolerant of ethnic,
  racial, and social diversity than older adults.

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Opinion Differences Among Groups

• Region
• People from the east or west coasts are more
  liberal than are people from the South, Midwest,
  or Rocky Mountain region.

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Opinion Differences Among Groups

• Gender
• Since 1980, however, survey researchers have
  discovered a gender gap. Women are now more
  likely than men are to vote Democratic and
  support minority rights.

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Concluding Review Questions

• How does the socialization process compare with
  learning in the classroom?

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Concluding Review Questions

• What role do the following play in the
  socialization process family, school, religious
  institutions, peer groups, the media, and events?
• What is the theory behind survey research?

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Concluding Review Questions

• What steps must researchers take to ensure a
  representative sample?
• Why is it important that question wording be
  unbiased?

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Concluding Review Questions

• What is the relationship between political trust
  and political legitimacy?
• Are Americans liberal, conservative, or moderate?