I. In a democracy - government policy supposed to follow public opinion.
A. Capital punishment in America shows government policy may resist public opinion.
B. Democratic theory - leaders able to know what public thinking about current political / social issues.
1. MAJORITARIAN MODEL - government should do what majority wants.
2. PLURALIST MODEL - government should allow free expression of minority opinions.
C. Sampling / computer technology - possible to be better informed about population's beliefs / attitudes about politics.
1. Survey research allows national opinion to be estimated.
2. Main factors in accuracy of a sample.
a. Way sample selected
b. Size of sample
c. Amount of variation in population
D. Government policy often against majority opinion / government not as democratic under MAJORITARIAN system,
1. Citizens prefer a different policy from that followed by the government.
2. To evaluate public opinion, we need to know how opinions are distributed / how citizens acquire their opinions.
II. Opinion analyzed according to SHAPE / STABILITY of distribution of opinions among citizens.
A. SHAPE - pattern of responses when counted.
1. NORMAL distribution is symmetrically shaped (like a bell) around most frequent response.
2. SKEWED - most opinions around a point on one side of issue.
3. BIMODAL - opinions divided between two opposing points on the issue.
B. STABILITY - the amount of change in the model category
1. Political attitudes change very little over time.
a. Americans' attitudes toward capitalism have changed little since 1940s.
b. Americans - consistent ideological orientations from1964 to 1984 / Americans slightly more conservative than when Johnson - Great Society program of liberal legislation.
2. Political attitudes can change dramatically - as toward racial integration of public schools.
III. POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION - complex process by which people acquire their political values.
A. Importance of early learning:
1. PRIMACY - what is learned first is learned best.
2. STRUCTURING - what is learned first structures later learning.
B. Agents of early socialization
1. Family
2. Primary / secondary schools.
3. Community
4. Youthful peer groups.
C. Socialization continues in later life.
1. College
2. Fellow workers, club members, friends, neighbors, and spouses.
3. Political leaders / mass media.
4. Election campaigns / voting experience.
5. Maturation process - taxing / regulation
IV. Political values / analyzed according groups.
A. Political socialization process unique to each individual but commonalties exists among people w/similar social backgrounds.
B. Commonalties seen in responses to questions about freedom v. either order or equality.
1. When should abortion be permitted?
2. Should government guarantee job to everyone willing to work?
C. Responses analyzed by education, income, region, ethnicity (race), religion, and gender
1. HIGH EDUCATION - freedom over both order / equality.
2. HIGH INCOME - opposed to income redistribution.
3. RACE - redistribution of wealth to promote equality.
6. RELIGIOSITY – order
V. Ideology - values / beliefs about purpose / scope of government
A. IDEOLOGUES - people who form opinions on basis of a distinct ideology
1. Most Americans - simple liberal-conservatives / in center / moderate category.
VI. People who lack ideological orientation - many factors
A. SELF-INTEREST
B. POLITICAL INFORMATION
C. OPINION SCHEMAS
D. POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
PARTICIPATION AND VOTING
I. Anti-abortion types indicate political participation - more than just voting.
A. Government ought to be run by the people."
1. Direct democracy - citizens participate directly in government.
2. Indirect democracy - relies on ELECTIONS / formal procedures
B. UNCONVENTIONAL PARTICIPATION - threatens / defies government channels.
1. Americans disapprove actions involving destruction of property / violence.
2. Unconventional participation - Some successes in influencing government
(1) Stopped Johnson from seeking reelection.
(2) Concern over the Vietnam War.
(3) Lowering voting age to eighteen.
b. Civil rights - DIRECT ACTION - assembled crowds confronted business / local government / demanded equal treatment for blacks.
(1) Unconventional participation - pressured Congress to pass civil rights laws against discrimination.
(2) Black protest in South part responsible for increased welfare.
3. Characteristics participation
a. Distrust of political system.
b. Strong sense of political efficacy
c. Sense of group consciousness.
4. Americans more likely to participate in unconventional politics than democratic countries
C. CONVENTIONAL PARTICIPATION - routine – non-threatening behavior / within channels of representative government.
1. SUPPORTIVE BEHAVIORS - acts expressing allegiance to government
2. INFLUENCING BEHAVIOR - to modify government policy.
a. Citizens may derive benefits from government.
(1) Behind-the-scenes influence - not always in public interest
(2) Individuals with higher economic - more likely to contact public officials for special services.
(3) Citizens demand more of local than national government.
(4) Wealthier can make campaign contributions - result in future favors.
b. Activities that influence selection of government personnel / Policies.
(1) LOW INITIATIVE - voting / not much effort by individual.
(2) HIGH INITIATIVE - require active participation such as filing class-action suits.
3. American less likely to vote / more likely to use other forms of participation.
II. Elections / voting - at the heart of democratic process.
A. Electoral procedures - rules for making collective decisions
1. Who can vote?
2. How much each vote will count?
3. How many votes needed to win the election?
B. Elimination property requirements - suffrage to white males by 1850s.
1. Government enforcement of political equality increased registration by blacks.
a. Fifteenth Amendment gave blacks the right \ southern states reestablished restrictive registration requirements.
b. Supreme Court (1944) - laws preventing blacks from voting - unconstitutional.
c. Voting Rights Act of 1965 - ended remaining voting tests / discriminated against blacks.
2. Women fight long and hard to win the vote
a. No woman to vote until 1869.
b. Unconventional tactics of suffragettes - twelve states gave women the vote 1869 - 1918.
c. Twentieth Amendment - women - right to vote / ratified in 1920.
C. PROGRESSIVISM - political reform movement during 1920s left
1. DIRECT PRIMARY - ordinary citizens choose candidates.
2. RECALL - a special election initiated by petition / could remove unpopular official from office.
3. REFERENDUM - vote directly on issues written as propositions.
4. INITIATIVE - voters propose issues to be decided by legislatures
D. Voting serves democratic governments.
1. Citizens choose candidates that best serve their interests.
2. Public officials are accountable for their actions.
III. Voting explanations
A. Americans participate in politics about same in 1980s as 1960s.
B. STANDARD SOCIOECONOMIC MODEL - suggests that people with more education / higher incomes / white-collar jobs are more likely to participate in politics.
1. Unconventional behavior - not related to higher socioeconomic status.
2. Education - strongest single predictor of participation
3. Young people less likely than older people to participate in conventional politics.
C. Low voting turnout attributed to
1. Declined because.
a. Lowering the voting age - twenty-one to eighteen in 1971 - increased eligible voters least likely to vote.
b. Belief in value of voting is declining among all voters.
2. Voting United States lower than other democratic countries
a. In United States - voting laws / election procedures do not encourage voting.
(1) No election holidays
(2) Burden of registration placed on individual.
b. Political parties fail to mobilize voters - weak party linkages.
c. Inadequate information about large number of candidates / offices - discourages voting.
D. Achieving political participation involves tradeoffs / freedom v. equality v. order.
1. Normative theory - individuals should be free to participate in politics as they wish and as much as they wish.
2. Citizens' ability to influence government should be equal regardless of differences in personal resources.
E. Elections serve other important purposes.
1. Socialize political activity.
2. Institutionalize access to political power.
3. Bolster states' power and authority.
F. Models of democracy.
1. MAJORITARIAN - democracy favors collective decisions formalized by elections over private influence.
2. PLURALIST - favors a decentralized and complex government / encourages conventional participation other than voting.