Aim: How does Public Opinion influence
American Government?
DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC OPINION
Why is government policy often at odds with public opinion?
•Framer ’ s intent
•Many “ publics ”
•limit to polling
•Government attends to elites

Aim: How does Public Opinion influence
American Government?
• Is there really such a thing as “ Public
Opinion ” if … the “ public ” suffers from ignorance , instability , and sensitivity to wording ?
• Examples of problems?
• “ Monetary Control Bill ”
• Wording
• stability

Aim: How does Public Opinion influence
American Government?
DO NOW:
• Why is governmental policy often at odds with public opinion? (4 reasons)
• Why might someone argue that there is no such thing as “ public opinion?
• What is the single most important factor in your political socialization? Why has it declined in importance in recent years?

ORIGINS OF POLITICAL
ATTITUDES
• Party ID
• Only 9% of high school seniors identify with the party opposite of their parents
• Even as adults, 60% share party ID of parents
• Influence of family on party ID has been decreasing

ORIGINS OF POLITICAL
ATTITUDES
RELIGION
• Catholics more liberal on economic issues than white protestants
• Jews much more liberal on economic and social issues
• Why?
• Social status
• Religious tradition
• See table (text)

ORIGINS OF POLITICAL
ATTITUDES
GENDER GAP
• Since 1960s women have tended to ID more strongly than men with
Democratic party
• Why?
• “ SHE ” issues
• See chart (text)

Gender Gap

ORIGINS OF POLITICAL
ATTITUDES
SCHOOLING/INFORMATION
• College students more liberal than general population
• Longer stay in college, more liberal you become
• Why?
• Individual traits
• Expose to more information about politics
• Liberalism – professors
• Does the liberalism last?

Changing College Student

ORIGINS OF POLITICAL
ATTITUDES
DO NOW:
• What is the single most important factor in your political socialization?
• How does religion influence your political identification? (Protestant,
Catholic, Jew)
• Does gender influence your views on the issues?(Is there a gender gap?)
• How does schooling influence one ’ s ideology?

Cleavages in Public Opinion
What are your CATS?
• Race/ethnicity
• Gender
• Social Class
• Religion
• Region
• Age
• Education
*In the U.S. there is no one cleavage that makes somebody a liberal or conservative … NOT THAT SIMPLE!

Cleavages in Public Opinion
• No single cleavage between liberals and conservatives
• Social class less important in U.S.than Europe
• Race/ethnicity – becoming more important
• Blacks most consistently liberal group – little cleavage
• See table – White v. Black opinions
• See table – Party ID/Political attitude ethnic groups (Ca.)
• Southerners v. Northerners
• Southerners and Democratic party

African American and White Opinion

Changes in Racial Opinion

White Southerners and the Democratic
Party

Cleavages in Public Opinion
DO NOW:
• Is there any single cleavage (category) that makes somebody a liberal or a conservative?
• How does socio-economic status affect one ’ s political ideology?
• Can the region that an individual is from
(within the U.S.) play a role in influencing party ID and ideology?
• Why have white southerners left the
Democratic party? (no longer the solid south for Democrats)
• What other factors influence the political ideology that an individual is likely to possess?

:
You vs. Your Enemy
• Box (text)
• Do you know the difference between a
“ bleeding heart, knee-jerk, pinko, treehugger ” (aka. Liberal) and a “ rightwing, reactionary, cold-hearted, fascist ”
(aka. Conservative)?(charts p. 121 and
123)
• Ideology Quiz

• Pure Liberals (Economic, Personal
Conduct)
• Libertarians (Economic, Personal
Conduct)
• Populists (Economic, Personal
Conduct)
• Pure Conservatives (Economic,
Personal Conduct)

• Why do more Americans (Over
40%) view themselves as
rather than
or
?
• What is the difference between the
and the
?

POLITICAL ELITES
• Who are the “ elites ” ?
• Why do elites display greater ideological consistency?
• What role do they play in American politics?
-raise and frame the issues
-establish the norms by which issues should be settled
• Are Democratic elites and Republican elites more liberal/conservative than rank and file
Democrats and Republicans?

• Articles of Confederation (weaknesses and remedies)
• Federal grants-in-aid (types, define, trends)
• McCulloch v. Maryland
• Trust in Government (trends, explanation)
• Political Efficacy (define, trends, explanation)
• Factors influencing political socialization