POLS 1101 Lecture 17Outline of Last Lecture I. Public Opinion in a Democratic SystemII. Measuring Public OpinionA. Early AttemptsB. Random SamplingC. Possible BiasesIII. Political Attitudes and SocializationIV. Political Attitudes and InterestsV. Group AttachmentsVI. The “American Creed”Outline of Current Lecture I. Fundamental Information: Lack of Knowledge and ApathyII. Fundamental AttitudesA. IdeologyB. PartisanshipIII. Party Identification, 1952-2012: Responds to economy & presidential approvalIV. How volatile is opinion?A. Opinion on Immigration, V. 1B. Opinion on Immigration, V. 2V. Opinion and Major Events: Support for Nuclear PowerVI. Priming and Framing: Public Support for Offshore DrillingVII. Opinion as a Thermostat: Defense SpendingVIII. Presidential Approval Rating: Four Causes / Role in Elections & PolicyCurrent Lecture: I. Fundamental Information: Lack of Knowledge and Apathy- Americans lack political knowledgea. 2/3 of American adults cannot name the chief justice of the Supreme Courtb. Is this a problem? - Rational Ignorance- Non-attitudes: same people change their minds from one time point to the next, most people don’t have coherence in their answer to political questions… nobody really cares? Noise- has a way of canceling out?II. Fundamental AttitudesA. Ideology- A coherent, organized set of ideas founded on basic principlesa. Conservative: normally republican, tried & true, laisse fair, fewer regulations, smaller taxes, smaller spending (pro-life, anti-gay marriage)o Other countries: believe in class system and monarchy?b. Liberal: France/Germany: illegal alien, America: believe in change and a more involved government, social policies that leave things up to the individual (pro-choice, etc.)- Ideological constraint: choose opinions to be in line with a certain ideology- Political ideologies range from communism to fascismB. Partisanship- Loyalty or psychological attachment to a political partyo Some states you have to register by a party… do you identify with one party or another??o Democrat or Republican?- Individuals tend to be stable in their party identification- Party ID is the best predictor of vote choice- Ideology, partisanship, and group attachments shape specific attitudes aboutpolicy and politicians.III. Party Identification, 1952-2012: Responds to economy & presidential approvalIV. How volatile is opinion?A. Opinion on Immigration, V. 1B. Opinion on Immigration, V. 2V. Opinion and Major Events: Support for Nuclear PowerVI. Priming and Framing: Public Support for Offshore DrillingVII. Opinion as a Thermostat: Defense SpendingVIII. Presidential Approval Rating: Four Causes / Role in Elections &
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