PUBLIC OPINION AND IDEOLOGY
Chapter 6 in your book
Public opinion is defined: The aggregate of
individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some
portion of the adult population
HOW PUBLIC OPINION IS FORMED
It is formed by Political Socialization
People acquire political attitudes
which include their party affiliation
through relationship with their
families, friends, co-workers,
Church, organizations
THE FAMILY
Parents have a tremendous impact on your
political ideology.
If the family is conservative or liberal the
children tend to adopt a similar point of
view when they grow up.
DO YOU FEEL DIFFERENTLY FROM YOUR
PARENTS ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF ABORTION?
1. My parents are antiabortion and so am I
2. My parents are antiabortion and I am prochoice
3. My parents are prochoice and I am anti
abortion.
33%
33%
33%
1
2
3
EDUCATION
The public school system was created in order to
promote the American character and to
assimilate Americans to the same American
values.
Teachers and professors impact the ideology of
their students
PEER PRESSURE
If all your friends are liberal you tend to
become liberal.
If all your friends are conservative, you
tend to become conservative
THE MEDIA SHAPES PEOPLE’S ATTITUDES
Major media (cable channels and
Newspapers tend to be liberal)
Talk radio tend to be conservative
IMPACT OF POLITICAL EVENTS
Life style effect: When you have to
pay mortgage and taxes, you
become more conservative. Renters
are more liberal
Generational effect: young vs Old
9-11, the Great Depression, The
Reagan Era.
DEMOGRAPHIC INFLUENCE
Demographics is the study and measurement of
the population. (census, ethnic make up, age of
population, gender, migration).
How education impact ideology. The more
education people have the more liberal they
tend to become.
Economic status: Family income:
Low income tend to vote Democrats
RELIGION
Protestant Christians tend to vote
Republican
Catholic and Jewish tend to vote
Democrat
ETHNICITY/GENDER
Blacks tend to vote Democrats
Whites vote more Republicans
Latinos are split
Asians are split
Jewish vote Democrat.
More women vote Democrat
More men vote Republican
GEOGRAPHIC IMPACT
The South and Mountain States tend
to be Republican
The Coasts (North East and West)
tend to vote Democrat
The Midwest tend to split between
Democrats and Republicans
IDEOLOGY AND PUBLIC OPINION
.
Type:
PNG
IDEOLOGY
© Copy
right
1999 2004
Questio
ns,
Comme
nts, or
Hate
Mail w
ebmast
er@peo
plesfort
heameri
canway
.org .
Ideolo
gical
Spectr
um: is
an
attemp
t to
show
the two
main
forces
of
Politic
s, i.e.,
the
Right
verses
the
Left.
Also,
how
the
Extrem
es of
each
ultimat
ely can
becom
e
Tyran
ny.
Repub
lican,
Democ
rat,
Indepe
ndent,
or
Liberta
rian
can fall
within
this
Spectr
um-limited
to the
moder
ate
ends
of the
spectr
um.
Sociali
sm,
Comm
unism,
Fascis
m, also
fall
within
this
spectr
um,
but
beyon
d the
moder
ate,
toward
the
Extrem
e, and
most
often,
includi
ng
Tyran
ny.
Think
of this
Ideolo
gical
Spectr
um as
deline
ating
The
Force
verses
The
Empir
e, a
laStar
Wars.
A note
about
the
confor
mity
plot:
Confor
mity
spans
betwe
en
Anarch
y--Free
Will;
and
adhere
nce to
the
norms,
i.e.,
"For
the
Comm
on
Good,"
"Majori
ty
Rules.
"
-Relate
d
Pages
:
-------------Politic
al
Spectr
um
-------------Forms
of
Gover
nment
s
-------------Left-vRight
-------------Media
Contr
ol of
the
Politic
al
Proce
ss
HOME
.
© Copy
right
1999 2004
Questio
ns,
Comme
nts, or
Hate
Mail w
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AMERICAN IDEOLOGY
• Economic
issues
• Social
• issues
progressive
liberal
Conservative
Orthodox
COMBINATION OF IDEOLOGIES
1)
Social liberal economic progressive
2) Social liberal economic
conservative
3) Social orthodox economic
conservative
4) social orthodox economic
progressive
WHAT IS YOUR IDEOLOGY?
25%
25%
25%
25%
1
2
3
4
MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION
Random sampling
Representative sampling
Sampling errors
100, 500, 1000, 5000+
CHAPTER 7: INTEREST GROUPS
Pluralism, Federalist 10, Factions
Interest groups demand policy changes that
benefit their own group.
Why so many? Because:
Freedom of Assembly in the Constitution
Federalism (Geographic diversity)
Immigration (ethnic and cultural diversity)
The large House of Representatives (district
diversity)
TYPES OF INTEREST GROUPS
Economic and business: Real estate lobby,
tax payers groups, chamber of
commerce
Agricultural, Labor Unions
Environmental Interest Groups
Public Interest Groups: Consumerism
Foreign lobbies
Civil Rights Groups
LOBBYING AND REVOLVING DOOR
Rules on gifts
Registration of lobbyists
CHAPTER 8: POLITICAL PARTIES
Group of political activists who share
certain values and are organized as
a group to win elections.
WHY DO WE HAVE 2 DOMINANT PARTIES
Our system of representation by districts and
states in which winner takes all favors two
major parties and two major candidates
In Countries that have proportional
representation and in which gaining a small
percentage of the vote is sufficient for the
purpose of representation tend to have
more parties.
HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES
1) Federalists vs Democratic Republicans
2) Era of Good Feelings 1816-1824 only
one party
3) Jacksonian Democracy: Whigs vs
Democrats
4) Civil War: Republican vs Democrats
3RD PARTIES
Anti-masonic party
Republican Party
Progressive Bull Moose
Ross Perot United We Stand America
The Reform Party
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS TODAY
Social and Economic Beliefs
The Big Tent
The Decline of Party affiliation
(DECLINE TO STATE OR
INDEPENDENT)
9:
Low voter turnout vs mandatory voting
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Who are the electors?
How many ( Number of
representatives+2 senators
538
So How many do you need to win?
California make up 20% of victory.
10: PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS
The nomination process
Primaries: closed vs open
Caucus
State convention
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
The schedule of primaries
The purpose of the National
convention (choosing the
nominee and the vice president)
The National Elections