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SC POLI 201 - Logic6eCh10Outline

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10. Public OpinionWhat is Public Opinion?Measuring Public OpinionThe Origins of Public OpinionThe Origins of Public Opinion: AttitudesThe Origins of Public Opinion: IdeologiesThe Origins of Public Opinion: PartisanshipThe Origins of Public Opinion: Acquiring OpinionsThe Origins of Public Opinion: InformationThe Origins of Public Opinion: FramingIs Public Opinion Meaningful?Is Public Opinion Meaningful? Stability of Aggregate Public OpinionIs Public Opinion Meaningful? Opinion LeadershipThe Content of Public OpinionThe Content of Public Opinion: Consensus on the SystemThe Content of Public Opinion: PoliticiansThe Content of Public Opinion: Public Opinion on IssuesThe Content of Public Opinion: Social and Moral IssuesEffects of Background on Public OpinionA Vital Component of American PoliticsPowerPoint Presentation10. Public OpinionWhat is Public Opinion?•V.O. Key, Jr. defined public opinion as “those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed”•Basis constitutional guarantees give Americans a platform for expressing their opinions•The same guarantees make it possible and essential for public officials and policy advocates to attempt to influence and mobilize public opinionMeasuring Public Opinion•The basic techniques for measuring public opinion are:–drawing a random sample–a sample size of approximately 1,200 –a three percent margin of error•A completely random sample is unlikely because:–no single directory in which everyone is listed –random digit dialing misses potential respondents –cell phone-only households–some unwilling to participate in polls–weighting is imperfect –question wording and interpretationThe Origins of Public Opinion•Public opinion is important because of its effect on political behavior, particularly voting.–It has its political effect as an aggregate (mass) phenomenon, but like the vote, it is the sum of many individuals parts.•Or is it?The Origins of Public Opinion: Attitudes•Expressed opinions reflect underlying attitudes–Attitude = an organized and consistent manner of thinking, feeling, and reacting with regard to people, groups, social issues or any event in one’s environment–Most people have loosely structured sets of political attitudesThe Origins of Public Opinion: Ideologies•A political ideology = an elaborately organized set of political attitudes –Ideologies promote consistency by connecting political attitudes to a more general principle or set of principles–Ideologies are most often linked by coalitional politics rather than by principle–Americans often identify themselves as being liberal or conservative –Some researchers suggest that political attitudes reflect an individual’s core values–Homework!!http://www.politicalcompass.org/test Email me your coordinates on compassThe Origins of Public Opinion: Partisanship•Partisanship, or the disposition toward political parties, shapes opinions and organizes other political attitudes –There are two complementary interpretations of partisanship:•party identification as psychological phenomenon •party attachment as a practical tool –Party identification also impacts beliefsThe Origins of Public Opinion: Acquiring Opinions•Attitudes derive from experience–Political socialization is the process of acquiring political attitudes–Experiences from childhood and young adulthood are the most influential, but new ones can alter attitudes at any stage of life–The news media are a socializing agent, as they provide information and commentary that help shape opinions about politics –Certain collective political attitudes and beliefs are grounded in experience, albeit not personal experienceThe Origins of Public Opinion: Information•There is cost-benefit component to being an informed citizen –“Cognitive misers” generally uniformed and unstable opinions about public affairs –Knowledge of political facts varies with the availability of information–People are most familiar with information on the front-page and in the nightly television newsThe Origins of Public Opinion: Framing•The most significant source of instability in people’s opinions is ambivalence •The mass media and political campaigns can affect people’s expressed political opinions by framing issues–Framing influences perspectiveIs Public Opinion Meaningful?•If large segments of the public are politically ignorant, hold inconsistent views, and can be manipulated by varying the words or context of questions, the question becomes, Is public opinion meaningful?Is Public Opinion Meaningful?Stability of Aggregate Public Opinion•Public opinion in the aggregate appears stable and intelligible–Aggregate opinion varies in coherent ways over a short term–Aggregate partisanship shifts with changes in economic conditions, political events, and presidential approval –Significant changes reflect historical trends or responses to changed conditions–Some research shows broad cyclical changes across a range of issueIs Public Opinion Meaningful?Opinion Leadership•How can stable and coherent public opinion arise from unstable and incoherent individual opinions?–Measurement errors and random individual changes tend to cancel one another out, so the average remains the same if circumstances remain the same–Opinion leaders give public opinion rationality and coherence–Many people rely on trusted sources for cues (cognitive shortcuts)–Issue publics are subsets of the population who are better informed than others about issues in which they have a stakeThe Content of Public Opinion•Americans share a broad consensus on basic political values that puts real limits on what is politically feasible.•Consensus on the basics makes collective action possible. –Disagreement within the consensus makes politics necessary.The Content of Public Opinion:Consensus on the System•Almost all Americans support the institutional underpinnings of modern democracy in the abstract •Consensus fades with the application of abstract principlesThe Content of Public Opinion:Politicians•Americans are often critical of elected officials•Distrust in government and public officials increased over the last half of the 20th century•Confidence in government rebounded during the Clinton administration’s 2nd term –continued through the Bush administration’s 1st term•By 2008, there was public discontent with the war,


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