Chapter 10 Public Opinion and Political Socialization

10.1 Roots of Public Opinion Research

-public opinion what the public thinks about a particular issue
or set of issues at any point in time
-Walter Lippman Public Opinion (1922) prompted growth of
polling
- Literary Digest pioneer in use of straw poll (unscientific survey
used to gauge public opinion
-wrongly predicted that Republican Landon would beat FDR
(1936)
-three errors:
-drew its sample from telephone directories
and lists of automobile owners, which
oversampled the upper middle class/wealthy
-timing: mailed questionnaires early, in
September
-self-selection : only highly motivated
individuals mailed back the cards (22%)
-Gallup correctly predicted 1936 election
-American National Election Studies (ANES) established 1952,
funded by natl govt => conduct surveys before and after midterm and presidential elections (long-term studies of electorate)

10.2 Conducting and Analyzing Public Opinion Polls

-push polls a poll that tries to push a certain viewpoint
- the intent of push polls is to give respondents some
negative or even untruthful information about a candidates
opponent so that they will move away from that candidate
and twds the one paying for the poll
-do not even record results because they are irrelevant
-population entire group of people whose attitudes a
researcher wishes to measure
-random sampling
-most use stratified sampling based on census data
-divide the population into several sampling regions
-randomly select subgroups to sample in proportion
to the total natl population
-most common method of contact => telephone polls
-random-digit dialing survey
-pollsters are exempt from fedl and state do-not-call lists
because poll taking is a form of constitutionally protected
speech

-tracking polls continuous surveys that enable a campaign or

news organization to chart a candidates daily rise or fall in
support
-in person interviews unintended influence of pollster may lead
to interviewer bias
-exit polls polls conducted as voters leave selected
polling places on Election Day
-series of demographic + issue questions to provide
independent assessment of why voters supported
particular candidates
10.3 Shortcomings of Polling
-margin of error
-limited respondent options (yes/no) may not accurately reflect
the temperature of the public (spectrum, not just
positive/negative)
-difficulty measuring intensity of feeling about particular
issues
-lack of interest in political issues => esp. wrt foreign policy
10.4 Forming Political Opinions
-political socialization the process through which individuals
acquire their political beliefs and values
-gender
-women hold more liberal attitudes than men abt
social issues
-more negative views abt war/military intervention
than men
-race and ethnicity
-age
-religion
-political knowledge ad political participation have a reciprocal
effect on one another => an increase in one will increase the
other
-women have less political knowledge in general than men
10.5 Toward Reform: The effect of Public Opinion on Politics
-policy makers respond intently to the often mercurial changes in
citizens opinions
Chapter 11 Political Parties
11.1 Roots of the Two Party System

11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5
11.6

-political party an organized group with shared goals and

ideals that joins together to run candidates for office and
exercise political and electoral power
-3 separate but related entities
1) office holders who organize themselves and
pursue policy objectives under a party label
(governmental party)
2) the workers and activists who make up the partys
formal organization structure (organizational party)
3) the voters who consider themselves allied or
associated with the party (electorate)
The Organization of American Political Parties
Activities of American Political Parties
Party Identification in the Electorate
Minor Parties in the American Two-Party System
Toward Reform: United or Divided?