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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