POLS 207 9TH Edition Lecture 12 Outline of Last Lecture I EXAM LAST CLASS PERIOD Outline of Current Lecture II Individualistic democratic government III Forms of public participation A voting B talking C organizations D public meetings E contributions F campaigning IV surveying research and polling V shortcomings and polling Current Lecture Individual and democratic Government o Southerners don t participate in voting because of political culture o Second highest in influence of the government are those who show up to vote What we have is an indirect democracy The politicians we vote for are the ones in House we want voting for us so we are indirectly voting for our public policies Other states don t have to wait on the indirect democracy They have a Direct Democracy o o Where they vote on the policies instead of the policies being indirectly voted on through our politicians SLIDE 2 Spent a lot of time here Gay marriage is being over ridden by many states representatives now but it is still considered unconstitutional These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Newest Debate Affordable Care Act Somehow she jumped to the war in Iraq and that we had no business being there She said we have no business telling Russia that they have no business invading Ukraine o Protest A form of political influence o o People that show up are your supporters You can predict people that are going to run for office because they have been doing that since they were young ex SBP Club Pres secretary etc Forms of Public Participation Voting Talk about politics Organizations Attending public meetings Contributions putting money into campaign Because they support them Some put money in both the rep and dem because that way when they email them about an issue they are more likely to listen Communicating w representatives Campaigning people who participate are called activist Initiating and repealing laws o If we do then we are hypocrites Initiative and referendum Seeking Public office Difficulties for Scientific Study Self reported Information People informing about issues Problem people do not know who they are Reliability and Validity o o By having such a high education we are considered reliable and valid Bias in Response Majority is sways one way or the other Self selection Surveying Research and Polling The American Voter Published in 1960 Continues to influence the way we think of mass attitudes and behavior Studied the 1952 1956 Presidential elections Discussed how class coalitions led to party affiliation These early studies led to the National Elections Study NES o Still drives POLI Scientists interested in voting behavior o These people Study and make predictions on the outcomes of things How we measure Public Opinion We are going to be the elite of Texas because of our higher education Question wording You need know how the questions are phrased Bad questions lead to bad results She randomly starts talking about how when a Chinese baby comes out of the womb they are 1 year old because of 9 months in the womb Sampling Relates because when you ask the question how old you are you can get bad results because cultures are different talking about a sample survey done to predict election results Contacting Respondents How you get in touch with people For 310 000 000 people your survey can be less than 100 000 People look at the question to see if it s a good survey o o Gallop A good and reliable poll Shortcomings of Polling Sampling error margin of error We must accept a 3 5 error and a 95 error for a gallop Limiting Respondent Options Lack of Informations Intensity Elitism