America and Arizona
Government for Elementary
Teachers
Presentation 16: Public Opinion and
Socialization
Presentation Objectives
AEPA Objectives
0015 Understand the role of political culture, public opinion,
and the media in United States politics.
AZ Social Studies Standard, Strand 3
Concept 4: Rights, Responsibilities, and Roles of Citizenship
Participation

What do voters base their votes on?
Ideology?
 Self interest?
 Luck?

Converse Study
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Philip Converse’s study from 1960s
Ideology 2.5%
Converse Study
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Philip Converse’s study from 1960s
Ideology 2.5%
Group interest 42%
Converse Study

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Philip Converse’s study from 1960s
Ideology 2.5%
Group interest 42%
Nature of the times 24%
No political attitudes 23%
Near Ideologues 9%
Does Democracy Work?

Does democracy work
if voters aren’t basing
their actions on
ideology?

Information short cuts
Miracle of Aggregation

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Committed voters always vote for their party
Leaners usually vote for their party
Undecideds/idiots cancel each other out
Election goes to side with best campaign – Democracy works!
Undecideds/
Die Hards | Leaners | Independent | Leaners | Die Hards
Measuring Opinions

Opinions are emotional
in character

The problem of Social
Norms

How to measure
attitudes?

Used to rely on “bogus
pipeline”
Measuring Opinions

Scientific Survey Construction – eliminating
non-random errors
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Representative Sample
Control for Interviewer Effects
Control for Question Wording
Control for Question Order
Representative Sample
Control for Interviewer Effects
Control for Question Wording
Control for Question Order
Floor proceedings of the U.S. Senate during the impeachment trial
of President Bill Clinton in 1999.
Political Socialization

Where do these opinions come from?

Political Socialization: The process by which
people adopt the norms, values, attitudes,
and behaviors of the prevailing political
culture.
Political Socialization
Early Political Socialization
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Development in the preadult world
By 1st grade kids can
distinguish between political
and non-political jobs
By 3rd grade kids have party
preferences
Kids see an idealized
government made of
people, not institutions
Agents of Socialization

Passive – people are sponges, kids are
recipients of culture

Active – people interact with their
environment, the world is a cross between
what you are told and what you experience
Political Socialization – Passive Agents
Parents – most powerful agents, pass on values that
filter all other sources
Political Socialization – Passive Agents
Schools – State’s main agent.
Through school boards
curriculum reflects local
ideology.
Try to stay non-partisan,
support establishment,
solidify sense of place,
class.
Political Socialization – Passive Agents
Peers – increasingly
important with age
We are attracted to peers
that are similar to our
parents
Political Socialization – Passive Agents
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Other less important
passive agents


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Church
Media
Military
Political Socialization – Active Agents
Life cycle explanation
Very impressionable at
early age
Formative years in youth
Views solidify around 30
Decline in cognitive ability
with age
Political Socialization – Active Agents
“Pivotal Event”
explanation
Event shakes you, forces
reconsideration of
reality
Reaction to event defines
your personality
Shared history shapes
generational views
Political Socialization
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Primacy Principle – What you learn first has
primacy, lasts the longest
Structuring principle – What you learn first
structures what you learn later
Caveat – people are not robots, we all make
choices and exercise moral agency
Conclusion

People aren’t robots,
are difficult to predict

Understanding opinion
and behavior helps us
understand policy
outcomes
This Presentation
This presentation is
courtesy of Brian Dille,
Professor of Political
Science at Mesa
Community College.