Exam 3 Study GuidePublic opinion and the worksWhat is public opinion? What is political socialization? Name some of the factors that affect how people are politically socialized and how they achieve that. What is the correlation between age and voting? What are three main ways the government finds voting opinion? How do the polls affect voting? How much do people really know about politics? Public Opinion-Finding the opinion of the population and recording it. It’s how people feel about the government and current issues. Experiences from life, situations, and upbringing withfamily all affect someone’s opinion. Political Socialization- how people get their political affiliation/opinion. This process is mainly influenced by upbringing with family (kids often take on their parent’s political position)Factors: POLS 206 3rd Edition- School- the government socializes kids into politics, how good an education you received (how much your school relied on government funding and how well the government responded)- Media- certain stations and programs have more of a political affiliation, people also oftenwatch programs that reaffirm their views- Peer Groups- people most often hang out with people similar to them, also reaffirms theirviews- Socioeconomic level- this is affected by jobs, also changes what policies someone will support depending on how well economically someone is doingAge and voting correlation- essentially, the younger crowd tend not to vote and so the government often favor the older crowd for that is where their main support is coming fromFinding voting opinion: - Random Sampling- using social scientific data to find the general opinion with having to get every single person’s opinion- Wording matters, affects people’s decisions- surveys have non bias questions- Sampling Error- helpful in getting a better idea of actually how accurate the data is, help gives an approximation of what the number could beThe Polls affect politicians decisions, gives them a better idea what the general populations opinion is at, so it is to politician’s advantage to follow the polls- Exit polls- the media uses in order to guess who will win elections (like a foreshadow for who the winner will be)- Misuse of polls- push polls, most used in states where the winner is a close callThe truth about political knowledge of the average American....most people do not know that much about politics, very mis-informed or have a lot of misconceptions, and so just relying on public opinion can be a bad ideaThe American showing their opinion...by voting and other waysWhat is the requirement the government makes everyone have in order to vote? How has voting changed over time in the U.S.? Name the main descriptions for who is most likely to vote.(name 6) What are some factors that affect a person’s vote choice? Name another way for someone to take a stand for what they want. Who are some people associated with doing that?(name 3) Name several ways someone can show political protest. Requirement of the government to vote is...Voter Registration- a system citizens must follow and register in an allotted time before election day, though the details of registration vary according to state- Motor Voter Act (1993)- States allow citizens to register to vote when they are getting their driver’s license (this only caused a small increase in voting, not as much as people hoped)Voting history:- It has changed in who has been allowed to vote. Originally, it was only white males with property who were allowed to vote and gradually all adult citizens have been allowed to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, Grandfather clause, and white primaries were once rules that used to be required in order to vote. Women were once unable to vote. An act was made to make voting equal. - Literacy Tests- testing not just ability to read but also knowledge of the government, which especially put black people at a disadvantage due to poor education- Poll tax-have to pay money in order to vote, people would rather spend their money on other necessities- Grandfather Clause- exemption of certain level of people- White Primaries- parties only voted for a certain person- Voting Rights Act of 1965-voting discrimination is officially illegal- Women and Suffrage-1920’s, 19th Amendment, women are allowed to voteWho is most likely to vote? - People with more education- People who are older- People who are Caucasian, but other ethnicities are more likely to vote if they have a similar higher education- Women (they tend to favor domestic policies)- People who are married (Probably caused by several possible factors:they more realize their kids will be influenced by future policies, want the best interest for the community, some laws more affect married people)- People who are part of a union (they rely on strength in numbers)Voting factors:- People tend to vote for their party (traditional approach), however this view is changing as people are now more voting on the candidate person themselves rather than just their party affiliation. So public image and characteristics of a candidate is becoming more and more important and so people are less looking at policieso People want to see candidates with a “good visual image”, specifically they want then to have such characteristics as integrity, reliability and competence. Also, they want a candidate that has a good personality and they can more identify with. - People also have different reasons for voting a certain way, such as a candidate with more military experience or are for/against a certain policies. The candidates tend to not give definite answers or stands on particular issues so people will read into what they want to hear and not turn people away (plausible deniability) Another way to take a stand for beliefs...Civil Disobedience- an illegal, public, non-violent way to protest the government in order to change something in the government (such as a law or policy)People associated with this:- Martin Luther King, Jr.- no longer see something bad and do nothing, do something to fix it- Ghandi- “Be the change you want to see in the world”- ThoreauShowing political protest:- Petition the Government- Rally- Facebook posts- Talking to your friends- Talk radio- The strongest and probably most dangerous way of protest is revolutionPolitical Parties- history and why we need themWhat are political parties? What is the purpose of political parties?(4 reasons) Why are there
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