public opinion/political action chapter 6. american people demography – the science of human...

Public Opinion/Political

ActionChapter 6

American People

Demography – the science of human population

Census – Taken every 10 years (decennial Reapportionment - House of Representatives

Census Bureau

Immigrant society

All Americans are descended from immigrants (except Native Americans)

800,000 new immigrants allowed every year

Melting pot – mixture of cultures, ideas and people

Minority Majority population in U.S.

AFRICAN AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY DEMOCRAT ASIAN AMERICANS IDENTIFY MORE WITH REPUBLICANS LATINOS MORE DEMOCRATIC

Melting Pot

Simpson Mazzoli Act

requires that employers document the citizenship of their employees, whether U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.

Political Culture

Most Americans share a common set of values – What makes us American? Treating all equally*** (most agreed

upon by minority groups) Trying to get ahead Speaking English Voting Speaking up for the country Believing in God

Regional Shift

Florida, California, Texas – seeing largest population growth in nation

States gain or lose congressional representation as their population changes, causes power shift

Reapportionment – every 10 years after census; reallocates seats in the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Graying of America

Nationwide – fastest growing age group is citizens over 65 Birthrate has dropped People are living

longer

As we grow older, political orientation grows firmer.

Political Socialization

The process of acquiring political orientations – knowledge, feelings, evaluations.

Family, Mass Media, School

Family – time and emotional commitment.

Majority of young people vote according to political leanings of their parents.

Mass Media

The “new parent” – young people spend more time watching television than at school each week

Public Opinion and Political Action

Formation of public opinionAn

event takes place

Media Reports Event Individuals respond to the event

Peer and secondary groups form opinions

Polls measure national public

opinion about the event

Public Opinion is

formed

School

Governments throughout the world use schools to attempt to raise children committed to the basic values of the system

Teach virtues of capitalism and democracy

Opinion Polls Scientific or unscientific? Are respondents selected by pollster or

respondents select themselves (volunteer)?

Gallup (George Gallup) Poll – best known scientific poll

Straw poll – an informal type of voting where results have little or no direct results – just gauge opinion. Tells which way the wind is blowing.

Exit polls – public opinion surveys used by major media pollsters to predict electoral winners with speed and precision. Not SCIENTIFIC!

Critics of polls – politicians more concerned with following than leading

Key to accurate polls – RANDOM SAMPLING

Pew Research Center Happiness research

Polls

Polls enable political leaders to keep up with changing opinions.

Polls are criticized because it causes politicians to be more concerned with following than leading.

American Political Ideologies

Political Ideology – set of consistent and interrelated attitudes that shape judgments about and reactions to political issues.

Political Socialization

Opinions – judgments on issuesAttitudes – broad orientations on issuesValues – basic ideals and beliefs on issues

Learned from family, peers, media, education, religion, groups, events, region of country, socio-economic status, race, ethnicity

Political Ideology – attitudes that shape our judgments about and reactions to political issues

Determines

Liberal v. Conservative

Which one are you?

A few interesting facts… Younger people are less likely to vote,

therefore conservatives are overrepresented at the polls. Why?

Groups with political clout tend to be more conservative than groups whose members have often been shut out from political power

Excluded groups (African-Americans, Hispanics) often look to the government to rectify the inequalities they have faced – a more liberal view.

What will happen with the influx of many more Hispanics into the electorate?

More interesting facts…

Women are not a minority group (54% of population) but have been politically and economically disadvantaged

Women are more likely than men to support spending on social services and oppose higher levels of military spending – liberal views (gender gap)

Women are more likely to support a Democratic candidate (Clinton)

Liberal-Conservative Self-Identification

On a 7 point scale on which the political view that people might hold are arranged from extremely liberal to extremely conservative, where would you place yourself on this scale, or haven’t you thought much about this?

Extremely liberal

Liberal

Slightly liberal

Moderate, middle of the road

Slightly conservative

Conservative

Extremely conservative

DK, haven’t thought

Political participation

Critical to a successful democracy Takes time and energy Requires knowledge of the political

process Most common form of participation in

U.S. = VOTING

Political Efficacy

people need to feel their political activity will make a difference

Everyone has the legal right to participate

Who participates?

The “haves” tend to speak with a louder, steadier and more influential voice than the “have-nots”

The politically active have more influence in public policy (older people)

More education, more income, older– more active

Ways to participate

Vote! Campaign activity Protest (Boston Tea party, ACT-UP,

civil disobedience) Non participation

Public’s trust in Government

Has decreased since 1954 – Why?

Civil Rights Movement Vietnam (1963-1975) Watergate (1972) Nixon resigns (1974) inflation, Oil embargoes (support for Israel in 1973 Arab-

Israeli war) Iranian Hostage crisis Soviet Union invades Afghanistan (1977), boycott Olympics

(1980) Hostage rescue failure (Carter) Reagan takes office in 1981 – Iranians release hostages. Iran – Contra (1984-1986) Slight increase in public trust of government in early

1980’s.

Texas QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau