Chapter 6 Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the Peoples Voice

Public opinion is viewed as the politically relevant opinions held by ordinary citizens
that they express openly
The expression does not need to be verbal

participation in politics
The main points in this chapter are:

Public opinion consists of those views held by ordinary citizens that are openly
expressed

The process by which individuals acquire their political opinions is called political
socialization

Americans political opinions are shaped by several frames of reference, including

partisanship, ideology, and group attachments

Public opinion has an important influence on government but ordinarily does not
determine exactly what officials will do
Political Socialization: The Origins of Americans Opinions

Peoples opinions from in response to events, issues, and problems that catch their
attention or are enduring enough to retain their interest

But opinions also reflect peoples

interests and values

The learning is called political

socialization

Process has two distinguishing

characteristics
Most peoples political outlooks
are influenced by childhood
learning
Political socialization is that its
effect is cumulative

The political socialization process

takes place through agents of
socialization
Primary agents interact closely and regularly with the individual, usually early
in life, as in the case of the family
Secondary agents have a less intimate connection with in individual and are
usually more important later in life, as in the case of work associates

Primary Socializing Agents: Family, School, and Church

Family

Near-monopoly on the attention of the young child

Also contributes to basic orientations that, while not directly political,

have political significance
School

Teachers at the elementary level praise the countrys political institutions

and extol the exploits of national heroes

Teachers in middle and high school tend to emphasize the nations great
moments
Church

Scholars have not studied the influence of religion on childhood political

socialization as closely as they have studied the influence of families or
schools

Secondary Socializing Agents: Peers, Media, Leaders, and Events

Peers

Research indicates that many individuals are unwilling to deviate too far

politically from what their peers think

The groups dominant opinion will appear to be more widely held than it
actually is, which can persuade those with lightly held opinions to adopt
the group opinion as their own
Media

The mass media are also a powerful socializing agent

The example illustrates the medias agenda-setting effectthe ability of

the media to influence what is on peoples minds
Leaders

In the American case, no authority figure has more influence on public

opinion than does the president
Events

The Great Depression, WWII, the Vietnam War, and the 2001 terrorist
attacks

Scholars use the term generational effect to describe the influence of

watershed events on the political outlook of younger citizens
Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically

Citizens acquire frames of reference that serve as reference points by which they
evaluate issues and developments
Provide an indication of how people think politically
They are basis for common cause

Party Identification
Party identification refers to a persons ingrained sense of loyalty to a political
party
Party identification is not a formal member of it but rather an emotional
attachment
2/3 of adults call themselves either Democrats or Republicans
1/3 of adults who prefer toe label Independents
Party identification concluded that it was highly stable and seldom changed
over the course of adult life
Historically, major shifts in the party attachments of large numbers of
Americans have occurred only in the context of a momentous upheaval
The shift has usually been concentrated among younger adults because their
partisanship tends to be less firmly rooted
Selective perception is the process whereby people selectively choose from
incoming information those aspects that support what they already believe
In the everyday world of politics, no source of opinion divides Americans more
clearly than does their partisanship
Republicans and Democrat have contrasting opinions on every major issue
For most people, partisanship is not blind faith in their party

Political ideology
In broader historical terms, Americans did not embrace any of the large 20th

century ideologiescommunism, fascism, or socialismthat captured the

imagination of many Europeans
An ideology can be defined as a general belief about the role and purpose of
government
Economic liberals
believe that government should use its power to help the
economically disadvantaged
Economic conservatives
believe that the government should leave the
distribution of economic benefits largely to the working of the free market
Cultural liberals
would leave lifestyle choices to the individual

Cultural conservatives
would use government to promote traditional values
Conservatives prefer a smaller role for government on economic issues but
want to use government power to uphold cultural traditions
The term
populist
is used to describe an individual who is an economic liberal
and a cultural conservative
Libertarian
is an individual who is an economic conservative but a cultural
liberal
Group Orientations
Religion

Religious beliefs have long been a source of solidarity among group

members and a source
of conflict with outsiders

Fundamentalists
Protestants and Roman
Catholics are more likely
than mainline
Protestants and Jews to
oppose legalized
abortion

Support for poverty

programs is higher
among Catholics and
Jews than among
Protestants
Economic Class

Income and education

levels do affect Americans opinions on some issues

Welfare assistance programs and business regulations have more support

among lower-income Americans, whereas higher-income Americans are
more supportive of tax cuts

People with similar incomes but differing occupations do not share the
same outlook
Region

North vs. South

Racial progress has diminished the regional divide, as has the relocation
to the South of millions of Americans from the Northeast and Midwest

The newcomers are generally less conservative than natives to the region
Race and Ethnicity

Blacks and Hispanics are generally more supportive of affirmative action

and less trusting of police and the judicial system than are non-Hispanic
whites

Blacks and Hispanics also tend to differ from non-Hispanic whites on

economic assistance programs, although this difference mostly reflects
differences in their income and education levels
Gender

A consistent different of about 10% points between women and men on

support for affirmative action

Different is even larger on some social welfare issues

Women tend to have more liberal opinions, reflecting in part their greater
economic vulnerability and their greater role in child care

Women were 20% more likely than men to favor increased spending for

public education

Men are more likely than women to support the use of military force
Generations and Age

Those who came of age during WWII acquired a sense of civic duty
unmatched by the preceding generation of by any generation since

Those who came of age during the Vietnam War era were most
mistrustful of government than the generation before them or the one
that followed

A substantial majority of todays young adults believe that gays and

lesbians should have the right to marry
Crosscutting Groups

In a pluralistic society such as the US, groups tend to be

crosscuttingthat is, each group includes individuals who also belong
to other groups

In the past few decades in the US, the overlap between groups has
diminished
The Measurement of Public Opinion

Public Opinion Polls

In a public opinion poll, a relatively few individualsthe sampleare
interviewed in order to estimate the opinions of a whole population
If respondents are chosen at random from a population, their opinions will
approximate those of the population as a whole
Random selection is the key to scientific polling, which is theoretically based
on probability samplinga sample in which each individual in population has
a known probability of being chosen at random for inclusion
Any such survey is based because it includes only individuals who use the
Internet, who happen for one reason or another to visit the particular site, and
who decide to complete the survey
The accuracy of a poll is expressed in terms of sampling errorthe degree to
which the sample estimates might differ from what the population actually
thinks

Problems with Polls

Although pollsters assume that their samples are drawn from a particular
population, such as all citizens of adult age, pollsters rarely have a list of all
individuals in the population from which to sample
The accuracy of polling is also diminished when respondent are asked about
unfamiliar issues
Respondents will have an opinion but choose not to reveal it
On sensitive topics, interviews will sometimes give what they regard as
socially correct response
Respondents are also not always
truthful when it comes to
expression opinions that relate to
race, gender, or ethnicity
Question order and wording can
also affect poll results
Despite these and other issues of
polling, the poll or survey is the
most relied-upon method of
measuring public opinion
The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy

Some have contended that almost any opinion that citizens hold, except the most
fleeting or malignant, deserves to be taken into account by officials
Other writers have argued that public opinion is too whimsical and uninformed to
be a basis for sound government
Limits of the Public Influence
Americans say they want to balanced federal budget
Yet only a minority say they would support the cuts in costly programs like
social security and defense that would be necessary to bring the budget into
closer balance
Many citizens also lack an understanding of issues
Only a minority of citizens can truly be said to be politically well informed
Public Opinion and the Boundaries of Action