PUBLIC OPINION
&
INTEREST GROUPS
Chapter 8-9
Public Opinion

Public opinion
 Attitudes
held by a significant number of people
concerning political issues.
 Americans belong to many different groups with
distinctive viewpoints.

Can be very hard to determine
Public Opinion

Political Socialization
 The
process by which each person acquires
political opinions
Factors that determine our opinions

Family
 Parents’
opinions absorbed
 Largest influence on our opinion
 Young voters: more likely to be independent
Factors that determine our opinions

Religion
 Protestants
tend to be more conservative
(individual morality)
 Catholics & Jews, historically, have been more
liberal (social justice)
 Others: Not as historically predictable
 Non-religious: usually more liberal
Factors that determine our opinions

Education
 Learn
about citizenship, national pride, great
Americans
 Take Government!
 College has liberalizing effect
Factors that determine our opinions

Occupation
 Social

class, tax burden
Gender
 Gender
Gap: Men tend to be more
conservative; Women more liberal
 Social programs? Income?
Factors that determine our opinions

Peer Groups
 Classmates,

co-workers compare opinions
Historic Events
 Civil
War, Great Depression, Vietnam, 9-11
 Current Recession
Factors that determine our opinions

Mass Media
 TV,
radio, newspapers, internet
 TVs in 98% of American homes
 1st Amendment guarantees rights of press to
express opinions and expose scandals.
 Lots of options for information, Varying quality
Mass Media

How much does media shape opinions?
 Does

It should not tell us what to think.
 It

it have an agenda?
should tell us what to think about.
Bias
 undertones

of opinions
Propaganda
 Technique
of persuasion aimed at creating a
belief, regardless of its validity
Persuasive Techniques Used In
Political Advertising

Name-Calling
 Using
personal attacks on an opponent to distract
voters from the real issues of the campaign

Transfer
 Using
symbols or images that evoke emotion to
something unrelated, such as a candidate or
proposition.

Bandwagon
 Creating
the impression that “everyone” supports a
cause or candidate
Persuasive Techniques Used In
Political Advertising

Plain Folks
 The
use of folksy or everyday images and language to
show that the candidate is a regular person who
understand the needs and concerns of the common
people.

Testimonial
 Having
a well-known celebrity or personality endorse a
candidate or proposal.
Persuasive Techniques Used In
Political Advertising

Card-Stacking
 Presenting
facts, statistics, and other evidence that
support only one side of an argument.

Glittering Generalities
 Using
vague, sweeping statements that appeal to voters
emotionally, but don’t actually say much of anything
specific.
Campaign Poster Analysis

Working in your groups…..
 Analyze
each campaign poster
 Identify which techniques are being used
 Determine if it is effective
• NameCalling
• CardStacking
• Plain Folk
• Transfer
• Transfer
• Glittering
Generalities
• Bandwagon
• Testimonial
• Bandwagon
• Transfer
• Testimonial
• Transfer
• Transfer
• Glittering
Generalities
• CardStacking
Which technique was more
persuasive?







Name-Calling
Transfer
Bandwagon
Plain Folks
Card-Stacking
Testimonial
Glittering Generalities
Measuring Public Opinion

Elections
 Best
way to gauge public opinion
 Almost all citizens are eligible to voice their
opinion

How can we predict election results?
Measuring Public Opinion
Polls: 2 Types
1. Straw Polls

 Ask
a question to a large group and waits for
responses
 Radio hosts, websites
 Not scientific
 You
cannot draw conclusions based on these
results
Measuring Public Opinion
2. Scientific Polls
 Ask
a sample of the voters how they would vote
 Must represent the voters
 Proportions
 Always
from each race, class, and region
has a margin for error (±3%)
 Developed by Gallup Organization
 Quota Poll: Constructed to reflect several major
characteristics of the identified universe
Measuring Public Opinion

Poll 1:
 Candidate
 Could
be up to 58% or as low as 48%
 Candidate
 Could
A - 53%
B – 47%
be up to 52% or as low as 42%
 (±5%)
 This
poll shows a statistical tie!
Measuring Public Opinion

Poll 2:
 Candidate
 Could
be up to 55% or as low as 51%
 Candidate
 Could
A - 53%
B – 47%
be up to 49% or as low as 45%
 (±2%)
 This
poll shows a predictable result!
Art of Polling
Random Sample of the population
Questions must be understandable
Questions must be asked fairly
1.
2.
3.
•
Not leading the responder to one answer
Answer categories should be carefully
considered
4.
•
•
Approve, disapprove
Excellent, pretty good, fair, poor
Evaluating Polls

When results are in…
 Do
polls report opinions or shape opinions?
 Or both?
 “Bandwagon effect”

Polls are not elections!
Evaluating Polls

Assignment
 Write
THREE clear poll questions on the
political topics of your choice
 Include answer choices for each (yes, no; etc.)
 Write
TWO poll questions that contain bias or
otherwise could NOT be used to draw
conclusions
 Finally,
explain why each could not be used.
Chapter 9 – Interest Groups
Interest Groups – Private organizations whose
members share common views and work to
shape public policy.
 Grassroots – political movements supported
average voters
 Nearly all Interest Groups use Lobbyists in D.C.

 Supply
information to elected officials
 Testify before congressional committees as experts
 Make campaign contributions
Interest Groups

Interest groups DO NOT:
 Nominate
candidates
 Try to win elections

They are NOT political parties

Examples of Interest Groups
 MADD,
NRA, PETA, AARP
 Exxon, Boeing, National Association of Realtors,
Verizon
 Smaller institutions like colleges, hospitals, etc.
Interest Groups

Criticisms of Interest Groups
 Don’t
always represent the interests of those
they claim to speak for.
 How much of the actual population do they
represent?
 In very rare cases, use tactics like bribery &
threats