POL 106 1st Edition Lecture 17 Outline of Last Lecture I. The Legal SystemII. CourtsIII. Supreme Court Outline of Current Lecture I. The Role of Public OpinionII. Citizens and Public OpinionIII. Measuring and Tracking Public OpinionCurrent Lecture The Role of Public Opinion in a DemocracyWhy Public Opinion Should Matter: The gov’ts legitimacy rests on the idea that gov’t exists to serve the interests of its citizensWhy Public Opinion Does Matter: Politicians act as though they believe the public is keeping tabs on them Citizens and Public OpinionTwo Competing Views of Citizenship:- Ideal Democratic Citizeno A virtuous citizen concerned for the common goodo Recognizes that democracy carries obligations as well as rights- Apolitical, Self-Interested Citizeno Inattentive and ill informedo Easily manipulatedo Politically intoleranto Unlikely to participateThese 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.Four Criteria for Ideal Democratic Citizens:- Political Knowledge- Ideology- Tolerance- ParticipationWhat Influences Our Opinions About Politics:- Family- Schools and education- Groups- Political and social eventsSources of Division in Public Opinion:- Self-interest- Education- Age (political generations)- Gendero Gender gapo Marriage gap- Race and ethnicity- Religion- Geographical region- Marital statusShortcuts to Political Knowledge:- Online processing- Two-step flow of information- Opinion leadersMeasuring and Tracking Public OpinionInformal Measures of Public Opinion- Allows politicians to pick up issues that could be missed in polls- Likely to have a sample biasEX) personal contacts, mail from citizensDevelopment of Modern Public Opinion Polls- Straw Polls- 1936 Presidential Election- 1948 Presidential Election- Gallup PollsThe Sample- 1000-2000 people- Sampling errorEliminating Sample Bias- Random samples- Strict rules for choosing a sample for any type of scientific or social science queryImportance of Asking the Right Question- Respondents should be asked things they know and have thought about- Questions should not be ambiguous- Questions should not be loaded- Terms used in question must be readily understoodTypes of Polls:- National Polls (CBS News, New York Times, etc)- Campaign Pollso Benchmark pollo Tracking pollo Exit poll- Pseudo-Pollso Internet pollo Call-in pollo Push pollHow Accurate Are Polls?- Generally can pick the winner of the election- Not correct to the percentage point because of margin of error- More accurate the closer one gets to the