Chapter 5
PUBLIC OPINION
AND POLITICAL
SOCIALIZATION
Learning Outcomes
5.1 Identify the various roles played by public
opinion in majoritarian and pluralist
democracy.
5.2 Analyze the effect of skewed, bimodal, and
normal distributions of opinion on public
policy.
5.3 Explain the influence of the agents of early
socialization – family, school, community, and
peers – on political learning.
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Learning Outcomes
5.4 Compare and contrast the effects of
education, income, region, race, ethnicity,
religion, and gender on public opinion.
5.5 Define the concept of ideology, describe
the liberal-conservative continuum, and assess
the influence of ideology on public opinion.
5.6 Assess the impact of knowledge, selfinterest, and leadership on political opinions.
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Public Opinion

Public Opinion on Death Penalty Reveals:
 Opinions about a given government policy can
change over time, often dramatically
 Public opinion places boundaries on allowable
types of public policies
 If asked by pollsters, citizens are willing to register
opinions on matters outside their experience
 Governments tend to respond to public opinion
 Government sometimes does not do what the
people want
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A Fatal Choice
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Public Opinion and the
Models of Democracy

Opinion Polling Started in the 1930s
 Became powerful in 1950s with computers

Majoritarian
 Majority of people hold clear, consistent
opinions on government policy

Pluralist
 Public is uninformed and ambivalent
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Stop the Presses! Oops,
Too Late…
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The Distribution of
Public Opinion

Shape of the Distribution
 To understand and act on public opinion,
government must understand how it’s
distributed
 Three patterns of distribution:
 Skewed
 Bimodal
 Normal
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The Distribution of
Public Opinion

Shape of the Distribution
 Description of public opinion results depends
on most frequent response
 Skewed: most respondents with one opinion
 Bimodal: two answers chosen with equal frequency
 Normal: bell-shaped, requiring a moderate approach
to policymaking
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The Distribution of
Public Opinion

Stability of the Distribution
 Stable distributions: little change over time
 Same question produces different responses over
time: public opinion has shifted
 Different questions on same issue produce similar
results: underlying attitudes stable
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Political Socialization

Political Socialization
 Process by which people acquire their political
values

Agents of Early Socialization
 Primary principle - —what is learned first is
learned best
 Structuring principle -what is learned first
structures later learning. Agents that structure
early socialization are the family, school and
community and peers.
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Political Socialization
 Agents of Early Socialization
 Family
 Earliest political memories linked to family
 Politically involved parents create politically
involved children
 Party identification learned from parents
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Political Socialization
 Agents of Early Socialization
 School
 Elementary: social order; national slogans and
symbols, norms of behavior, decision making
 High School: build good citizens; rights,
responsibilities; greater awareness of political
process
 College: question authority and dominant political
values
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Political Socialization

Agents of Early Socialization
 Community and peers
 Homogenous communities: strong influence
 Pressure to conform
 Peer groups defend against community pressure

Continuing Socialization
 Adulthood: peer groups and mass media
assume greater importance
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Word of God?
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Each Person’s Political Socialization:
Unique
 People with similar backgrounds tend to develop
similar political opinions

Ties Between Background and Values
 Ex: 2008 American National Election Study
 Abortion
 Government guaranteeing employment
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Education
 Increases awareness and understanding of
political issues
 College-educated tend to choose personal freedom
over social order and equality
 Abortion: college-educated tend to view it as matter of
women’s choice
 Government guarantee of employment: collegeeducated tend to favor freedom over equality
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Income
 Most Americans consider themselves “middle
class”
 Wealth linked to opinions favoring limited
government role in promoting equality
 Groups with higher income and higher
education tend to favor freedom
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Region
 Historically, regional differences in political
opinion were important
 Differences in wealth fed cultural differences
between regions
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Ethnicity and Race
 Political values differ with race and ethnic
background
 Minority groups display somewhat similar
political attitudes on equality
 Low socioeconomic status
 Targets of prejudice and discrimination
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Religion
 Religious makeup of U.S. fairly stable since
1940s
 56% Protestant
 22% Catholic
 13% no religion
 9% other (including fewer than 2% Jewish)
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Religion
 Religious groupings
 Little effect on attitudes on economic equality
 More influence on attitudes of social order
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Clashing Opinions on
Same-Sex Marriage
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Social Groups and
Political Values

Gender
 Men and women differ on social and political
issues
 Gender gap: women are more likely to be and vote
Democrat
 Women: more likely to favor government actions to
support equality
 Men: more supportive of death penalty and going to war
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From Values to Ideology

Degree of Ideological Thinking in Public
Opinion
 Some believe terms liberal and conservative
no longer relevant to American politics
 Ideological labels necessary for classification
 Most people don’t think of themselves in
ideological terms
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From Values to Ideology

Quality of Ideological Thinking in Public
Opinion
 Two themes when describing ideology
 Liberals = change; conservatives = tradition
 Attitude toward equality, role of govt
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From Values to Ideology

Ideological Types in The U.S.
 Liberals: favor freedom over order and equality
over freedom
 Conservatives: favor freedom over equality
and order over freedom
 Libertarians: favor freedom over equality and
order
 Communitarians: favor equality over freedom
and order
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From Values to Ideology

Ideological Types in The U.S.
 People’s preferences for government action
depend on what the action targets
 Poll respondents don’t always categorize
themselves the same way their responses do
 Ideological typology reflects important
differences between diverse social groups
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From Values to Ideology

Ideological Types in The U.S.
 Americans who know politics have difficulty
locating themselves on liberal-conservative
continuum
 Problem: liberal on some issues and conservative
on others, so they chose middle category
(moderate)
 People who classify themselves as liberal or
conservative do fit categories
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Forming Political Opinions

Political Knowledge
 About 50 percent of public knows:
 Basic institutions and procedures of government
 Party positions on major issues
 Public less knowledgeable on:
 Critical public policy matters
 Government expenditures
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Forming Political Opinions

Costs, Benefits, and Cues
 Self-interest principle: people choose what
benefits them personally
 In some cases, individuals are unable to
determine personal costs or benefits
 Opinion also emerges from cues and mental
shortcuts
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Forming Political Opinions

Political Leadership
 Public opinion on specific issues molded by
political leaders
 Politicians make arguments based on shared
ideology and self-interest
 Issue framing or “spin”
 Politicians’ ability to influence public opinion
enhanced by growth of broadcast media
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