1
Chapter
Six:
Public
Opinion and
Political
Socialization
Learning Objectives
2
 Define what we mean by public opinion, and
explain its uses by policymakers and interest
groups.
 Distinguish between public opinion and private
opinion.
 Describe consensus opinion and divisive
opinion and explain how these differ from nonopinion.
Learning Objectives
3
 Explain how public opinion is formed in the
United States, including political socialization
by families, education, peers, the media,
opinion leaders, and the influence of events.
 Contrast the life cycle effect with the
generational effect in explaining the influence of
political events on public opinion and behavior.
 Explain the influence of education and
occupation on voting behavior.
Learning Objectives
4
 Explain the influence of socioeconomic status.
 Explain the influence of religion, race and
ethnicity, and geographical region.
 Define and explain the impact of the gender
gap.
 Describe early opinion polls and evaluate their
primary flaw.
Learning Objectives
5
 Describe current sampling techniques,
including random sampling and quota
sampling.
 Explain problems associated with telephone
and Internet polls.
 Describe the trends in public opinion regarding
trust in government and confidence in
institutions.
 Describe some of the limits to the value of polls
to public officials when making policy decisions.
Defining Public Opinion?
6
What Is Public Opinion—
The aggregate of individual
attitudes or beliefs shared by
some portion of the adult
population.
Defining Public Opinion
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 Types of Public Opinion
 Consensus
 Divisive
Opinion
Opinion
 Non-opinion
Defining Public Opinion
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Defining Public Opinion
9
Defining Public Opinion
10
How Public Opinion Is Formed: Political
Socialization
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 Sources of Political Socialization
 Family
 Education
 Peers and Peer Group
 Opinion Leaders
 Media
 Political Events
Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
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 Demographic Influences on Voting Behavior
 Education
 Economic
Status
 Religious Influence:
Denomination
 Religiosity

 Race and Ethnicity
 Gender
 Geographic Region
Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
13
Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
14
Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
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Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
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Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
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Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
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Political Preferences and Voting Behavior
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 Elections: The Most Important Influences
 Party
Identification
 Perception
 Issue
of the Candidates
Preferences
Measuring Public Opinion
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 Sampling Techniques
 Representative
sampling: The most important
principle in sampling, or poll taking, is
randomness. Every person should have a known
chance, and especially an equal chance, of
being sampled.
Measuring Public Opinion
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 Problems with Polls
 Sampling
Error
 Polling Questions
 Push Polls
 Telephone Polling Problems
 Internet Polling
Measuring Public Opinion
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Measuring Public Opinion
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Measuring Public Opinion
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Public Opinion and the Political Process
25
 Political Culture and Public Opinion
 Americans
tend to turn to government to solve
public problems.
 Government
 Public
policy tends to follow public opinion.
opinion can also limit government action.
Public Opinion and the Political Process
26
Web Links
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 Polling Report : An up-to-date and easy-to-use
Web site that offers polls and their results
organized by topic: www.pollingreport.com.
 Real Clear Politics (RCP): Daily digest of poll
results, election analysis, and political
commentary as well as an archive of past
political polls: www.realclearpolitics.com.
What If…Young People Were Required to
Serve?
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 Young people typically know less about politics,
express less interest in politics, and vote less
often than their elders.
 As more young voters turned out in 2008, they
have tremendous potential to shape politics
and policy if they get involved.
 Political socialization impacts people’s attitudes
toward service.
What If…Young People Were Required to
Serve?
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 For those who support service, the benefit is a
diverse group of committed individuals
performing public work that needs doing.
 For those opposed, national service is forced
voluntarism and the compulsory nature
undermines the benefits for individuals and
communities.
You Can Make a Difference: Being a Critical
Consumer of Opinion Polls
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 Although opinion polls tell us a variety of things,
they are not necessarily accurate.
 Pay attention only to opinion polls that are
based on scientific or random samples.
 Pay attention as well to how people were
contacted for the poll—by mail, by telephone, in
person in their homes, or in some other way
(such as via the Internet).