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Chapter 6

Chapter 6. Public Opinion and Political Action. Key Terms. Demography -the science of population changes Census -the most valuable method for understanding demographic changes in America; occurs every 10 years - reapportionment

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Chapter 6

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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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