© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 6
© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 6
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Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ OpinionsPublic opinion: opinions of citizens that are openly statedPolitical socialization: the process by which people
acquire their political opinions, beliefs, and valuesChildhood learning is paramountProcess is cumulative: political affiliations usually grow
firmer with age
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Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ OpinionsPrimary political socialization agents:
Family Family is the strongest of all agents of socialization
Schools More critical examination of American history in higher grades
and in collegeChurch
Scholars have not studied the effects of religion as well as schools or family, but it is a powerful influence
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Political Socialization:The Origins of Americans’ OpinionsSecondary political socialization agents:
PeersMediaLeadersEvents
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Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically
Frames of reference: reference points by which individuals evaluate issues and developments
Party identificationParty identification: emotional loyalty to a political party;
not formal membershipMajor shifts in loyalty rare
Usually in response to a major eventCan lead to selective perception
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Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically
Political ideology:A coherent set of political beliefsFew Americans have a true political ideologyIdeological leanings:
Economic liberals/conservativesSocial liberals/conservativesPopulists Libertarians
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Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically
Group orientationsReligionEconomic classRegionRace and ethnicityGenderGenerations and ageCrosscutting groups
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The Measurement of Public OpinionThe measurement of public opinion
Traditional method: election resultsPublic opinion polls: primary method
Measure public opinion using randomly chosen population sample(s) and carefully constructed interviews
Samples—estimation of population’s viewsAccuracy of a poll—expressed by sampling error
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The Measurement of Public OpinionProblems with polls
Increasing refusal to participate in telephone pollsPolled individuals unfamiliar with issuesDishonesty by respondentsPoorly worded questions and poor question orderNon-opinions
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The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy
Disagreement over how much public opinion affects policy, and how much it should affect policy
Limits on public influenceInconsistencies in citizens’ policy preferencesCitizens’ lack of understanding of issuesMastery of issues not necessary for opinion to be of value,
but some issues require understanding
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The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy
Public opinion and the boundaries of actionSome policy actions outside boundaries of public
acceptabilityThe greater the level of public involvement, the more likely
officials will respond to public sentimentEven on popular issues, leaders have some discretion
Leaders can influence public opinion through concerted effort