5 question quiz on Chapter 6 1.Name one primary agent of political socialization. 2.What ideology is...
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Transcript of 5 question quiz on Chapter 6 1.Name one primary agent of political socialization. 2.What ideology is...
5 question quiz on Chapter 6
1. Name one primary agent of political socialization.
2. What ideology is this?: People who believe government tries to do too many things that should be left to private interests and economic markets.
3. True or False: Men and women tend to have the same views on abortion.
4. I am a if I believe that government intervenes in too many things – both socially and economically.
5. The larger the sample size, the smaller the (two words).
Public Opinion & Political SocializationHow do we form political opinions?
How are our opinions measured?
Do our opinions matter?
Should public opinion control policy?
INSTA-POLL Question 1
How much do you support the troops?
• Lots
• Plenty
• Totally
• 110%
INSTA-POLL Question 2
How many poll responses do you usually read before they start to get annoying?
• One does the trick
• I don’t mind if there are two
• Three is a perfectly appropriate number
• Around four they start to get a bit grating
• Five, I would say, is probably pushing it
• Six responses is definitely too many
• At seven, I really get angry
• I will destroy you
What are the origins of public opinion?
• Public opinion is the attitudes and values people have about issues and events that they share publicly
• In the political realm, most Americans value equality of opportunity, liberty, democracy, and self-government
• How a person perceives the above values forms their political ideology
So how are these beliefs formed?
Political Socialization: How People “Learn” Politics
Primary Agents of Socialization:
• Family:
– 2/3 of children have the same beliefs as their parents
– Like religion (or the family’s favorite sports team)
• School:
– Elementary School: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and others hailed as national heroes; pledge of allegiance, national holidays, national anthem
– Middle School: More nuanced, but still emphasis on leaders and institutions
– High School: Political processes, equality in the classroom
Secondary Agents of Socialization
• Social Groups
– Voluntary: Religion, professional groups, etc.
– Involuntary: Gender, age, race, ethnicity, etc.
• Higher Ed: increases tolerance to unpopular opinions and general political awareness; political activism
• Income: Higher income values more personal choice; lower income values more government control
• Region or “Red” and “Blue” America: Red America tends to be more rural than Blue America.
• Race: Is the “minority experience” in America different than the “white” experience? Click Here
• Gender (Gap): Women tend to be against war and military action; Men tend to be against affirmative action and social welfare programs Click here
• Media: The media creates a lens (sometimes skewed), through which we believe is true of society
Race Relations in America
Black Responses
Generally GoodGenerally BadDon't Know
White Responses
Generally GoodGenerally BadDon't Know
Men and Women: War and Peace
Government Action Men% Approving of
Action
Women%Approving of
Action
Going to war against Iraq (2003) 66 50
Prefer cease fire over NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia (1999)
44 51
Ending ban on DADT in (1993) 34 51
Military operation against Somali warlord 72 60
Going to war against Iraq (1991) 72 53
What about abortion?Men and Women are generally equally split pro-choice and pro-life
POLITICAL IDEOLOGYHow do we frame what we think?
Extra Credit
• Go to www.isidewith.com
• Take the quiz, answer all the extended questions too.
• Email me the results [email protected] by Sunday, October 28th at midnight.
• You get extra credit!
Party Identification
• A person’s sense of loyalty to one party or the other
• 2/3 of Americans call themselves Dems or Repubs
• Most loyalty lasts a lifetime
• Dems and Repubs differ significantly in their opinion
• Number one predictor of how people will vote
• Selective perception . . .
• Do we choose to watch/listen to/pay attention to those who speak our gospel?
• The Daily Show Lactate Intolerance
Partisanship and Issue Opinions
Political Ideology
• Consistent opinions about policy goals (rarely are we consistent)
• Economic and social policy questions
– What should be the government’s role in the economy?
– In social/cultural issues?
• Typically,
– Conservatives prefer less government intervention in the economy but want to use government power to uphold traditional cultural values
– The reverse is true of liberals
POLITICAL POLLINGGarbage In, Garbage Out.
Some key concepts about political polling
• Random Sampling – everyone has an equal chance of being polled
– Probability Sampling: About 1000 people is a big enough sample to represent the entire population of the US
– Sampling Error: the plus/minus factor for each poll; and each question
– Gallup polls have correctly predicted every presidential election since 1936 (except one: 1948)
• Exit polls: polling that measures election returns; can affect western time zones
• Straw polls: polling that informally measures a future outcome; like a caucus
Other polling concepts
• Bellwether Districts/States– Districts or States
that predict actual election outcomes with a high degree of accuracy
– Ohio
Obama’s Presidential Approval Ratings
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html
What causes presidential approval ratings to increase or decrease?What Increases Ratings• Economic conditions if good
• After a major political event
– “The Bounce” McCain went from 45% to 50% after conventions
– Romney and the first debate: 36% had a better opinion of Romney after debate (18% for Obama)
• Use of the media, spin
– State of the Union, Addresses, etc.
• Crises: “rally around the flag” effect
What Decreases Ratings• Economic conditions if
bad
• Scandal
• Foreign policy if things are going bad
• Over time, ratings generally decrease
Clinton’s Job Approval Ratings
Bush’s Job Approval Ratings
Limitations of polls
• The change of phone use over time
• Asking questions on issues not considered by the person being polled
• Lying
• Question wording
• Question order: MPI
• Polls are funded by groups who have an interest in knowing certain information
Double Barreled Questions
• Questions that group topics may weaken results, consider the following:
– Please tell me whether you would vote for or against a candidate who supports reducing federal funding spending on education and welfare
Loaded Questions (Push Polling)
• "John McCain calls the campaign finance system corrupt, but as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, he raises money and travels on the private jets of corporations with legislative proposals before his committee. In view of this, are you much more likely to vote for him, somewhat more likely to vote for him, somewhat more likely to vote against him or much more likely to vote against him?"
Confusing Questions
• Does it seem possible or does it seem impossible to you that the Holocaust never happened?
– What does “yes” mean?
Reliability Check Case Study: Abortion Question Construction Matters; Consider the following
With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life? (2005, CNN/USA Today Poll)
51% Pro-choice
42% Pro-life
3% Mixed/Neither
3% Don’t know what that term means
1% No opinion
This is considered a “dichotomous question,” because there are really only two responses
What happens when the wording and options are changed?
Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only in certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances? (2005, Gallup Poll)
23% Legal under any circumstances
53% Legal only under certain circumstances
22% Illegal in all circumstances
2% No opinion
How have the results changed from the first question to this one?
When there are three options, the public takes the middle ground (in this case)
Outcomes change again, with a new question:
Which of the following best represents your views about abortion – the choice on abortion should be left up to the woman and her doctor, abortion should be legal only in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is at risk, or abortion should be illegal in all circumstances? (2005 NBC News/WSJ Poll)
55% Should be left up to the woman and her doctor
29% Legal only in cases of rape/incest/life is at risk
14% Illegal in all circumstances
2% Not sure
Our test:
• Placement of the MPI question
– First on yellow sheet; last on blue sheet
• Opinion of Congress (Yellow)/President (Blue)
– Hypothesis is that opinion of Congress will be lower than the President
• Whether there is a gender gap
– Will females and males differ in their responses?
2011-2012: Right/Wrong Direction, Male/Female
Right Wrong IDK N/A0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
MalesFemales
2011-2012: Obama Approval, Male/Female
Approve Disapprove IDK N/A0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
MenWomen
2011-2012: Congress Approval, Male/Female
Approve Disapprove IDK N/A0
5
10
15
20
25
30
MalesFemales
Obama/Congress, Men/Women, Approval
Appr
ove
of O
bam
a
Disap
prov
e of
Oba
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Appr
ove
of C
ongr
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Disap
prov
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Con
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10203040
MalesFemales
Obama/Congress: Immigration
Appr
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of C
ongr
ess
Disap
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Disap
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MalesFemales
Obama/Congress: Healthcare
Appr
ove
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ove
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ongr
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Disap
prov
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Oba
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Disap
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10203040
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Obama/Congress: Economy
Appr
ove
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Appr
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ongr
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Disap
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Oba
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Disap
prov
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Con
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s0
10
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30
MalesFemales
MOST PRESSING ISSUE 2011-2012
Yellow Sheet (first question)• Economy
• Unemployment
• Healthcare
Blue Sheet (last question)• Economy
• Jobs
• Healthcare
Period 6 Overall Results (Yellow Sheet) 2010-2011
Right
dire
ctio
n/W
rong
Dire
ctio
n
Obam
a's App
rova
l Rat
ing
Congr
ess a
nd Im
mig
ratio
n
Congr
ess a
nd H
ealth
care
Congr
ess a
nd th
e Ec
onom
y0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
ApproveDisapproveIDKNo Answer
Period 6 Overall Results (Blue Sheet) 2010-2011
Obam
a's App
rova
l Rat
ing
Right
/Wro
ng D
irect
ion
Obam
a/Ec
onom
y
Obam
a/Im
mig
ratio
n
Obam
a/Hea
lthca
re0
10
20
30
40
50
60
ApproveDisapproveIDKNo Answer
Period 7 Overall Results: (Yellow Sheet) 2010-2011
Right
dire
ctio
n/W
rong
Dire
ctio
n
Obam
a's App
rova
l Rat
ing
Congr
ess a
nd Im
mig
ratio
n
Congr
ess a
nd H
ealth
care
Congr
ess a
nd th
e Ec
onom
y0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
ApproveDisapproveIDKNo Answer
Period 7 Results: (Blue Sheet) 2010-2011
Obam
a's App
rova
l Rat
ing
Right
/Wro
ng D
irect
ion
Obam
a/Ec
onom
y
Obam
a/Im
mig
ratio
n
Obam
a/Hea
lthca
re0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
ApproveDisapproveIDKNo Answer
Blue v. Yellow: Obama’s ratings v. Congress’ ratings
Economy Immigration Healthcare0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Obama p.6Obama p.7Congress p.6Congress p.7
Top Four Most Pressing Issues 2010-2011
Yellow Sheet P. 6• Economy
• Healthcare
• I don’t know
• War
Blue Sheet P. 6• Economy
• Healthcare
• War
• Education
Most Pressing Issue Period 7
Yellow Sheet p.7• Economy
• Healthcare
• Immigration
• War
Blue Sheet p.7• Healthcare
• Economy
• Border Issues
• Budget
So, do public opinion polls really matter?
• They do:
– Study of 50 years of polling data shows that when public opinion changes, policy usually changed too
– Between 1935 and 1979, in two-thirds of all cases, policy changes followed the mood of the public
– So do politicians pander to the public?
They don’t. (Most of the time.)
• Some issues are too sharply divided
– Abortion
– Illegal Immigration
• Some issues are too complex for consistent opinion
– Federal Budget
• Some issues are misunderstood
– War in Iraq
– Healthcare legislation
– “Occupy Wall Street”
• Chicken and egg: Does opinion influence policy or does policy influence opinion? The problem is that neither are “fixed.”
Congress and Public Opinion
• Congress members’ voting decisions are enhanced by public opinion polls when:
– Congress members perceive that they have a duty to their constituents to represent their constituents’ wishes
– Congress members have an ambition to get re-elected
• Congress members voting decisions are limited by public opinion polls when:
– Congress members want to avoid being perceived as indecisive by their supporters
– Congress members want to avoid losing the support of their party
So, after all that, how do you answer the following?
• How do we form political opinions?
• How are our opinions measured?
• Do our opinions matter?
• Does public opinion control policy?