PoliSci 1050 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Lectures 6 8 Lecture 6 Public Opinion Political Participation Public Opinion Basics The Face of American Values Issues of Political Socialization Public Opinion Polls Political participation Public Opinion The distribution of the population s beliefs about politics and policy issues Demographics We can use these characteristics of the population to generalize about public opinion Census Tool for understanding population changes Required by Constitution every 10 years Changing America Regional shift in population from east to west Reappointment Reallocating seats in House every ten years based on census Melting Pot Minority Majority Whites are decreasing Hispanics and African Americans are increasing Political Culture An overall set of values widely shared within a society Political Socialization The process through which an individual acquires particular political orientation How different people from different backgrounds get along Family School Media all influence our political views Older we get the more involved with politics and news we become Measuring Public Opinion Sample random sampling sampling error Exit polls polls of people as they leave the voting booth used to predict election day winners Public Opinion Only about 25 public trust government Trust in government went up after 911 but then again down Lecture 7 News Media What is mass media and what role does it play in American politics What characterizes news coverage today What about bias How do media affect politics and policy Mass Media Television radio newspapers magazines the Internet and other means of popular communication Media are not dominant linkage institutions today Media focuses on the negative Print media broadcast media Fragmented media Reporting the News Trial Balloons intentional news leaks to access the political reaction Media Bias People believe the mass media news favors one point of view over another Ideological bias may be increasing as news channels target more specific audiences New and Public Opinion Television news can affect what people think is important Some stories can be made more or less important than others depending on who is talking about the topic on the news Television and agenda Television increases an issues importance For example if it is the leading story more people are going to watch because it is the first issue the news is reporting Less Americans watch television news Evening news viewership has decreased from 1980 to 2012 Information is the fuel of democracy Lecture 8 Interest Groups What are interest groups What do they do What are some theories of groups Pluralism Elitism and Hyperpluralism What kinds of groups are successful What about collective action and free rider problems PACs interest groups and money Interest Groups An organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process who try to achieve those goals Interest groups are different from political parties in that political parties fight election battles and interest groups do not field candidates but can choose a side Theories of Interest Groups Pluralist Theory Politics is a competition between groups each groups wanting their own policies Elite Theory Societies are divided by class lines where upper class rules Hyperpluralist theory groups are so strong that the government is weak This is an exaggeration of pluralism Pluralism Groups are the linkage between people and government Groups compete and no one group will become dominant Lobbying is open to all so there is no problem A linkage institution for all Elitism The largest corporations hold the most power and the power is held by few Other groups may win with smaller policy battle but when it comes to the big policies the elite will always win Lobbying is a problem because it benefits the few Linkage institution for the elite few Hyperpluralism Sub government has a network of groups that have mass power and over specify policy areas Also known as the iron triangle because of the interest groups government agencies and congressional committees Types of interest groups Economic Interests Environmental Equality Consumer and Public Interest Lobbies Collective Action Is good that once provided cannot be withheld from a non group member REVIEW BLACKBOARD FOR VOCAB TO REVIEW UNDER EXAM 2 REVIEW