Measuring and Forming Public Opinion

Chapter 4 Section 1

Nature of Public Opinion

Public Opinion – the collection of individual opinions toward issues or objects of general interests, that is, those that concern a significant number of people

Formation of Public Opinion

Political Socialization – learning about politics by exposure to new information supplied or filtered through parents, peers, schools, the media, political leaders, and the community.

Agents of Political Socialization, I

The Family:• Parents share their opinions and children

imitate them;• Children reflect what they learn in the

home;• Children inherit their social and economic

positions from their parents;• Agreement with parents declines when

young adults leave the home

Agents of Political Socialization, II

School:• Schools promote patriotic rituals;• Textbooks foster commitment to

government and the status quo;• Reading habits and language skills help

build democratic citizenship;• College broadens students’ perspectives

and leads to greater understanding of the world

Agents of Political Socialization, III

Peers:• Have the most influence when the peer group is attractive to the individual and when the individual spends time with the group.

Agents of Political Socialization, IV

Adult Socialization:• Political opinions are affected by such factors as marriage, divorce, unemployment, new jobs, or moves to new locations.

Measuring Public Opinion, I

Early polling efforts:• Straw polls – unscientific polls run by newspapers or other media sources that attempt to forecast election outcomes

Measuring Public Opinion, II

Emergence of Scientific Polling:• Beginning after WWII and based on marketing research;

• Applies mathematical principles of probability;

• Gallup among the first to use the technique

Measuring Public Opinion, III

Polls and Politics:• Polling catches on with politicians in the 1960s;• Presidents often follow polls on a weekly basis and

shape their messages based on these polls;• “Crafted talk” is allows politicians to move away

from the center and cater to the more extremist views of their base while appearing to be mainstream;

• Push polls – polls that try to determine if certain information can “push” voters in a particular direction

Knowledge and Information

Many Americans do not know much about government beyond the Constitution;

Most Americans do not keep up with what goes on in Washington, DC;

Lack of knowledge prevents Americans from holding government accountable;

Failure to stay informed means politicians can ignore what the public wants