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ASUB - Intro to US Government - Gary Perkey- Chapter 6: Public Opinion -…
ASUB - Intro to US Government - Gary Perkey- Chapter 6: Public Opinion
Public Opinion
Government Disagreement with Public
Gov has deficit budget but public wants balances budget
gov didn't ratify Equal Rights Amendment but public wanted it
gov dosn't want term limits but public does
Founding fathers tried to avoid public opinion tyranny
Bill of Rights
Separation of Powers
Federalism
Independent judiciary
Knew that country would be too large for a true public opinion
Public opinion shifts too often
Polling
300 million citizens can be represented by 15 000 random people
Needs understandable and fair questions
Only fair if using a
random sample
sampling error
: the variation between polls
1952 on, major pollsters have picked the P election winners
Exit polls
: given to random people leaving voting places
accurate
Opinion differences
Types
opinion saliency
: care about some issues more than others
opinion stability
: issues are steadier
opinion-policy congruence
: opinion vs policy
Political socialization
: background traits that influence opinion
family, religion, education, and job experience doesn't guaranty voting style
Genetics influence politics, but life experience is more important
Family affects party affiliation
independents increased, especially in younger generations
Men lean right while women lean left
Gender gap
Women could vote since 1920, but voted less than men until 1980s. Women also the majority of voting pop since 80s
Different Opinion Types
By 1960s social class did not affect political opinion much
race relations, abortion, school prayer, environmentalism, and terrorism affect all classes
Race
African Americans Democrat, but young generation more Republican
African Americans more likely to support affirmative action, unbiased justice, less military, and religious leaders
Blacks and whites oppose abortion, light punishments, and government aid
Latinos
Less explored
Normally support Dems
Mexican > dems
Cubans > Reps
Puerto Ricans divided
Asian Americans more Rep than whites
Region
South more conservative
Grew between 1950s and 1970s
Similar economic views across the nation
Ideology
Beliefs often too inconsistent for a political ideology
Methods for finding an ideology
Prevalence of ideological terms when describing their opinions
Consistency of preferences
40% population moderate, 30% conservative, 20% liberal
Some people don't know
Fine line between political and cultural beliefs
Liberal and Conservative Elites
Political Elites are those active in politics
called
nomenklatura
in Soviet Russia
The more active one is, the more ideological they are
Info
Peer pressure
Elites, Opinion, and Policy
Elites bring issues to public attention
Influential on foreign affairs
Less influential on economic issues
Set
norms
for solving problems
Elite divided just as the public is