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Understanding Public Opinion and Political Participation in American Democracy

Explore the science of population changes, public opinion distribution, political socialization, and political participation in the American political landscape. Learn about how polls are conducted, the role of exit polls, and different forms of political participation. Dive into the impact of demographic shifts and the influence of political culture on society.

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Understanding Public Opinion and Political Participation in American Democracy

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  1. Chapter 6 Public Opinion and Political Action

  2. Key Terms • Demography-the science of population changes • Census-the most valuable method for understanding demographic changes in America; occurs every 10 years -reapportionment • Public opinion-the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues. • Political culture-an overall set of values widely shared within a society.

  3. “Minority Majority” • America will soon cease to have a white majority and together the minority groups will become a majority • The largest component of the minority majority concept: Hispanic population

  4. Simpson-Mazzoli Act • represented a crackdown on illegal aliens by requiring that employers document the citizenship or legitimate immigrant status of workers or pay stiff fines.

  5. How Americans Learn About Politics: Political Socialization • Political Socialization: • “the process through which an individual acquires [their] particular political orientation” • Orientation grow firmer with age • The Process of Political Socialization • The Family • Political leanings of children often mirror their parents’ leanings

  6. How Americans Learn About Politics: Political Socialization • The Process of Political Socialization (continued) • The Mass Media • Chief source of information as children age • Generation gap in viewing television news • School • Used by government to socialize young into political culture • Better-educated citizens are more likely to vote and are more knowledgeable about politics and policy. • Political Learning Over a Lifetime • Aging increases political participation and strength of party attachment.

  7. Measuring Public Opinion • Public opinion polling began in 1932 by George Gallup • How Polls Are Conducted • Sample: a small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey to be representative of the whole; minimum of 1000 required for a faithfully represented sample size • Random Sampling: the key technique employed by sophisticated survey researchers which operates on the principle that everyone should have an equal probability of being selected for the sample • Sampling Error: the level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll

  8. Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information • The Role of Polls in American Democracy • Polls help politicians detect public preferences. • But critics say polls make politicians think more about following than leading public • Polls may distort election process • Rise of polling analysis and collection of polling data For example: FiveThirtyEight, TPM PollTracker, HuffPost Pollster, the RealClearPolitics Average, and the Princeton Election Consortium

  9. Election 2012 OutcomeMost Accurate Poll Ranking Source: Final Report 1/3/2013 by Fordham University Study of polling accuracy from 2012 pre-election estimates

  10. Measuring Public Opinion and Political Information • The Role of Polls in American Democracy • Exit Polls: used by the media to collect demographic data about voters and to find out why they voted as they did. • National Election Pool (NEP) consists of ABC, AP, CBS, CNN, FOX News, and NBC conduct a joint election exit poll. • 2000 presidential election in Florida • Question wording may affect survey results

  11. How Americans Participate in Politics • Political Participation: all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue • Conventional Participation • Voting in elections • Working in campaigns or running for office • Contacting elected officials • Running for office

  12. How Americans Participate in Politics • Protest as Participation • Protest: a form of political participation designed to achieve policy changes through dramatic and unconventional tactics • Civil disobedience: a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences

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