Lecture – Public Opinion and Political Socialization

  1. Understanding Public Opinion. Public opinion is defined as the value and attitudes that people have about issues, events, and personalities. Values (or beliefs) are defined as a person’s basic orientations to politics; values are the basic principles that shape a person’s opinions about political issues and events. Political ideology is defined as a complex set of beliefs and values that, as a whole, form a general philosophy about the role of government. Attitude (or opinion) is defined as a specific view on a particular issue, event, or personality.
  1. Political Values. Americans hold three common fundamental political values – liberty, equality, and democracy. However, this does not mean that Americans agree on how to put these values into practice.
  1. Equality of Opportunity: a widely shared American ideal that all people should be allowed to seek personal and material success. This success should be linked to personal effort and ability, rather than special privilege.
  2. Liberty: governmental interference with individuals’ lives and property should be kept to the minimum consistent with the general welfare.
  3. Democracy: every person should have the opportunity to take part in the nation’s governmental and policy making processes and have some say in determining how they are governed.
  1. Forms of Disagreement. Although they agree on fundamentals, Americans disagree on a wide variety of issues that apply those values, or require putting them into practice. Americans differ in opinion on a variety of issues such as income, education, and employment. Differences of public opinion are often associated with socioeconomic variables such as income, education, occupation, race, gender, religion, and age.
  2. How Political Values are Formed. Individual attitudes are shaped by underlying political beliefs and values. The political process through which these underlying political beliefs and values are formed are collectively called political socialization, the induction of an individual into the political culture as that individual learns the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based. Socialization elements produce citizens’ different and similar outlooks on government. Four of the most important agencies of socialization (social institutions that help to shape and individual’s basic political beliefs and values) include family, membership in social groups, education, and prevailing political conditions. No inventory of these agencies can explain all basic political beliefs, because an individual’s perspective is also shaped by personal experience.
  3. Influence on Our Political Values
  1. The Family. The family is a fundamental source of political orientation for the individual. Different family backgrounds produce different outlooks, thus influencing each individual’s understanding of his or her political world. However, no individual is an identical copy of his or her family choice. In fact, many can be quite the opposite.
  2. Social Groups. Social groups are another important source of an individual’s political orientation. Social groups include those to which people belong involuntarily (gender, religious, or racial groups) or voluntarily (political parties, labor unions, and occupational groups. Other groups may be a combination based on individual efforts or the class status one is born into, which shift up or down.) Different social groups shape individual’s perspectives differently. For example, black (a minority under significant racial persecution) and white (the majority) perspectives can differ significantly. Blacks view racism as a significant factor influencing the political world, whereas white respondents are less concerned about this issue. Similarly, opinions on other issues reveal a pattern of disagreement reflecting the differences in experience, background, and interests between black and white Americans. We can conclude that blacks and whites do not perceive race relations in the same way. This is also the case for men’s and women’s differing opinions, reflecting their different political and social experiences and roles. The tendency for women’s and men’s opinions to differ is called the gender gap (a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between women and men). Politically, women tend to favor social policies more than men. However, fewer women than men favor the use of military force. Political party and religious membership can also affect political orientation. Partisans tend to rely on party leaders for cues on appropriate positions to take on the major political issues. Additionally, religions affect an individual’s attitudes by providing a historical and philosophical experience. For example, the Christian majority may not be offended by the display of their symbols, but Jews or other minorities may see the same display as an effort to undermine their religions. Social groups can also affect individuals through their efforts to influence their members. For example, unions and organizations seek to educate their members at rallies and other public functions. Sometimes these organizations do not make efforts to influence members’ beliefs and opinions. Peer pressure may suffice to shift the participants’ views to conform to the group. Finally, social groups affect political belief through objective political interests. For example, the wealthy and the poor have different economic interests because of their different experiences. Still, none of these social groups can fully explain an individual’s political views.
  3. Differences of Education. Education is a source of both commonality and difference in the formation of political values and beliefs. Governments use public education to teach children a common set a values such as liberty, equality, and democracy. Differences in amounts of education, however, affect an individual’s political perspective. For example, college graduates with higher levels of education tend to participate more by voting and making their voices heard.
  4. Political Conditions. The individual’s environment and conditions of involvement in political life also shape political orientation. For example, the American political circumstance of the 1960s formed a cultural opposition to the Vietnam War and military conscription for the citizens of that generation.
  1. From Political Values to Ideology. Political ideology is the set of underlying orientations, ideas, and beliefs that form an individual’s philosophy about, and understanding and interpretation of, government and politics. Ideologies vary. Some people may view politics in religious or in racial terms.
  2. Liberal vs. Conservative Ideologies: In the United States today, most people identify with liberal or conservative ideologies. The term liberal refers to those who favor equality as the most important core value. They generally support social and political reform; extensive economic governmental intervention; the expansion of federal social services; more vigorous efforts on behalf of the poor, minorities, and women; and greater concern for consumers and the environment. The term conservative refers to those who favor liberty as the most important core value. They generally support the social and economic status quo and are suspicious of efforts to introduce new political formulae and economic arrangements. Conservatives believe that a large and powerful government poses a threat to citizens’ freedom. However, the real political world is too complex to explain in terms of a struggle between liberals and conservatives. These ideologies often have a mix of positions, and particular elements of an ideology may be more political than logical.
  1. How We Form Political Opinions. An individual’s opinions about politics emerge as he or she evaluates phenomena through the lens of his or her political ideology. However, political ideologies seldom fully determine an individual’s political view. This is due to internal ideological contradictions pointing individuals in opposing directions. Also, individuals may have difficulty linking political issues or actors to their own ideologies. Finally, most individuals have some conflicting underlying attitudes. Thus, political ideologies do not fully explain individual opinions. Other important factors include a person’s knowledge about politics and outside influences on that person’s views.
  1. Political Knowledge. Studies of political opinion show that that individuals’ views are easily influenced by others if they do not hold clearly defined opinions about politics. However, better informed individuals can recognize their political interests and act consistently on their own behalf. This is true when individuals make voting decisions. Recent studies show that political knowledge is not evenly distributed and that average Americans exhibit little knowledge about politics. Those with higher education, income, and employment are more likely to know about and be active in politics. This can be explained by the sense of political efficacy (the ability to influence government and politics) that Americans feel today. Wealthier individuals possess greater access to knowledge and feel they can affect government. As a result, they act by participating and getting what they want from government. Conversely, those who don’t think they can affect government tend to not be interested in learning or participating in politics. Becoming truly knowledgeable about politics requires a substantial investment of time and energy. Many Americans seek shortcuts to acquiring information, such as taking cues from trusted others or by assessing new issues and events through the lenses of more general beliefs and orientations. Shortcuts are helpful, but not entirely reliable.
  1. Political Knowledge and Political Inequality. If knowledge is power, then lack of knowledge is a source of political weakness leading to political inequality. As a result, political outcomes – for example, taxation rates – most often do not favor individuals who are unaware of their interests or how to pursue them.
  1. The Influence of Political Leaders, Private Groups, and the Media. When forming opinions about politics, individuals are often confronted by groups trying to persuade them to adopt a point of view. Constant exposure to the marketplace of ideas (the public forum in which beliefs and ideas are exchanged and compete) modifies individuals’ beliefs. It has also created a common ground for discussion based on common understandings. Political ideas are usually produced by organized groups and interests. Three important forces shape opinions with their ideas: the government, private groups, and the news media.
  1. Government and the Shaping of Public Opinion. Government attempts to influence citizens’ beliefs. However, its efforts are limited. The Nixon, Clinton, and other administrations have used public polling and the media to shape public opinion. Yet their efforts have not always been successful. For example, CBS News uncovered the Nixon administration’s fraudulent efforts to gain public support for the Vietnam War. These efforts backfired on the administration. The Clinton administration used polling data to defeat the Republican budget by informing the public about Medicaid cuts for the elderly.
  2. Private Groups and the Shaping of Public Opinion. Economic and political groups advance political ideas. For example, conservatives advanced the right to life campaign to ban abortion as the center of Christian institutions. The issue remains prominent today. Typically, ideas are effectively marketed by groups with access to financial and resources, public and private support, and sufficient education to attract interest.
  3. The Media and Public Opinion. The media have great impact on popular attitudes and opinions. The way the media report political events helps to shape public opinions. For example, recent media reports on governmental corruption have shaped American’s general distrust in government. After 9/11, President George W. Bush’s antiterrorist efforts were praised by the media. However, after 2003 the media criticized the aftermath of the Iraq War because the same administration failed to remove the United States from involvement in Iraq.

Point 3. Measuring Public Opinion. Measuring public opinion became a science as a result of the barriers caused by the distance and number of citizens participating in politics. Politicians use public opinion polls (scientific instruments for measuring public opinion) to decide whether and how to run for office, support policies, vote, and campaign.

  1. Constructing Public Opinion from Surveys. To conduct a poll, pollsters must choose a valid sample or a small group selected by researchers to represent the most important characteristics of an entire population.
  1. Sampling Techniques and Selection Bias. Often, techniques to choose a valid sample include probability sampling (a method used by pollsters to select a representative sample in which every individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected as a respondent) and random digit dialing (polls in which respondents are selected at random from a list of ten digit telephone numbers, with every effort made to avoid bias in the construction of the sample). Internet polling is likely to become a future alternative when its technical problems are resolved. Problems with surveys emerge when the sample has a selection bias, a polling error that arises when the sample has a selective of the population being studied, and that creates errors in over or underrepresenting opinions. Trial and error help to eliminate selection bias, but the possibility of a polling fiasco is still latent.
  2. Sample Size. Poll reliability can be determined from sample size. Typical poll sizes range from 450 to 1,500 respondents and will have a sampling error of only plus or minus 3 percent (approximately). A sampling error, or margin of error, is a polling error that arises from the small size of the sample.
  3. Survey Design. Even with reliable samples, surveys may fail to reflect public opinions. One source of frequent measurement error (failure to identify the true distribution of opinion within a population because of errors such as ambiguous or poorly worded questions) is the wording of survey questions.
  4. Push Polling. Recently, a new form of survey bias has ben introduced by the use of push polling, a polling technique in which questions are designed to shape the respondent’s opinion. Push polling is not a legitimate research method. It is, instead, a means of shaping public opinion and may contribute to Americans skepticism of the practice of polling.
  5. Illusion of Saliency. Respondents’ preferences reflect public opinion at a given time but do not always show strongly held views. Salient interests are those that stand out beyond others. These are attitudes and views that are especially important to the individuals holding them. Sometimes, the media and other groups may create an illusion saliency (the impression conveyed by polls that something is important to the public when it actually is not) to influence political realities.
  6. Bandwagon Effect. The most noted but least serious polling problem is the bandwagon effect. This is a shift in electoral support to the candidate whom public opinion polls report as the frontrunner.