Chapter 7: Public Opinion

I.

Introduction
A. Gettysburg
1. Problems with of the people, by the
a) Govt does things even though people disagree.
2. Framers didnt want govt to be day to day what the people want
a) created checks on public opinion
3. Never just one national public opinion
a) many smaller public opinion

II.

What is Public opinion

A. Intro
1. Surveys are inherently unreliable.
2. Def
a) how people think or feel about particular things
3. Bad Polls
a) 1940s
b) most people were clueless with government
4. Good Polls
a) decades ensuing
b) people were smarter
5. Terry M. Moe
a) people are not dumb when they are provided with
basic info
B. How Polling Works
1. Random sample
a) Stratified or Multistage Area Sampling
2. Sampling Error
a) discrepancies between different polls.
3. Exit polls
a) polls taken on election day with random voters
C. How Opinions Differ
1. Opinion Saliency
a) Some people care more about issues than other
people
2. Opinion Stability
a) Steady opinion throughout population
3. Political Socialization
a) background influences political views
D. Political Socialization: The Family
1. Teens
a) tend to side with parents view
(1) by 5th grade
2. Adults
a) 60% same as parents
3. Identification
a) less as Dem/Rep more as independent
4. Red-Diaper Babies
a) parents were also radicals
E. Religion
F. The gender Gap
1. Def
a) difference of political views of men and women
2. Men
a) more republican
b) more conservative
3. Women

III.

a) Stayed Democratic
G. Schooling and Information
1. College
(1) more liberal students
b) Today
(1) less liberal (little)
(2) less political activity
(3) more community service
(4) read less the newspaper
2. John Zaller
(1) Political Scientist
b)
c)
Cleavages in Public Opinion
1. Def
a) Many factors determining
(1) Race, Religion, Region, Education
b) People of similar situations may have opposing views
B. Social Class
1. Not sure what determines class
2. Public Opinion and Voting
a) not swayed by class in US
b) but swayed in Europe
3. Class Cleavage
a) declined in US and EU
4. V. O. Key, Jr. (1950s)
a) Political Opinion
(1) associated with occupation
b) Professional/Managerial Jobs vs. Manual workers
(1) Conservative
(a) Social Welfare
(2) Internationalist on Foreign Policy
5. 1960s
a) Professionals had the same views as manual
workers
(1) Poverty Program, Health Insurance,
Vietnam
6. Most political party factors are non-economical
a) more on Race relations, abortion, school prayer,
environmentalism, and terrorism
7. Non-economic
a) No real difference in peoples situations
8. Economic
a) Peoples situations determine this
C. Race and Ethnicity
1. Blacks and Whites
a) Different
(1) Democrat vs Republican
(2) OJ Simpson Innocent vs Guilty
(3) Justice System biased vs Not Biased
(4) Strong Affirmative Action vs Opposed
to it
b) Similar
(1) Abortion
(2) Tougher on criminals
(3) stop census on race/ethnicity

2. 2001 study
a) young blacks
(1) not okay to vote if you didnt like any of
the candidates
3. Black Activist leaders
a) More liberal than most blacks
b) same for white activist leaders and whites
4. Bush
a) declined invitation by NAACP
b) accepted one by NUL
5. Latinos and Asians
(1) growing population, yet very few
studies
b) Latinos
(1) Democratic but less than blacks
(2) 1988 Presidential election
(a) Mexican-Americans:
Democratic
(b) Cuban-Americans:
Republicans
(c) Puerto Ricans: Middle
(3) 2003 Survey on Hispanics
(a) Big Government, illegal
abortions,
c) Asians
(1) more republican than whites
(2) Japanese-Americans:conservative
(3) Korean-Americans:Liberal
D. Region

IV.

1. Southern Whites vs other whites

a) South compared to north
(1) conservative on non economic issues
(2) liberal on economic issues
b) South
(1) supported George wallace (1968)
(a) against big government
(b) against civil rights
(2) Democrats?
(a) 1952:
(b) 1996:
c) No Democrat wouldve won without support of
southerners (1940-76)
(1) with the exception of Lyndon Johnson
Political Ideology
A. Intro
1. Def
a) more or less set of beliefs about what policies
government ought to pursue
2. How to measure
a) Method 1
(1) How frequently they use broad political
words to justify their preferences
(2) see how their views change over time
b) Method 2
(1) guess current views on past views or
on other veiws

(2) The higher the accuracy, the more

constraint
3. Groups
a) Moderate
(1) Largest
b) Conservatives
(1) Second Largest
c) Liberals
(1) Smallest
4. Americans do not think of politics in an ideological or coherent
manner.
B. Consistent Attitudes
1. Americans dont need to be politically fluent to know what they want
2. Inconsistent opinions
a) opinions that are on different sides of the spectrum
C. What do Liberalism and Conservatism Mean?
1. 1900
a) Liberal
(1) Freedom from State
(2) Free market/No government regulation
b) Conservative
(1) opposed to the excesses of the
French Revolution
(2) Favored State power
c) Meaning Change
(1) Roosevelt
(a) used term Liberal to
refer to his New Deal
(i)
Active
National Government
(b) People opposed called
themselves conservatives
(i)
Barry
Goldwater
(a)
F
irst conservative
(ii)

Free

(iii)

States

Market
rights
D. Various Categories (3)
1. Economy
a) Liberals
(1) Wants government involvement
(2) Higher tax for rich
2. Civil Rights/Race Relations
a) liberals
(1) affirmative action
3. political conduct
a) Legalize Marijuana
E. Analyzing Consistency
1. Seymour Martin, Lipset and Earl Raab and by Herbert McClosky
and John Zaller
a) People have inconsistent views without feeling
inconsistent

V.

2. 2 Views (Economic and Personal Conduct)

a) Pure Liberals
(1) Liberal on both views
(2) Reduce inequality, tax rich
(3) Young, College, NonReligious
b) Pure Conservatives
(1) Low Taxes
(2) Older, Higher incomes, White,
Midwest
c) Libertarians
(1) Conservative: Economic
(2) Liberal: Conduct
(3) Small weak government,
(4) Young, College, Higher incomes, west
d) Populists
(1) Liberal: Economic
(2) Conservative: Conduct
(3) Older, Low Education/Income,
religious, female, south or midwest
F. Political Elites
1. Political Activists
2. Pure Ideology
a) Higher political involvement
b) more information
Political Elites, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
A. Elites
1. Raise and Frame political issues
2. John Zaller
a) Elite views shape mass views
3. Opinion-Policy
a) declining since 1980
4. Do not define economic problems
a) May shape policies but not define problem