Public Opinion Chapter 7 Public Opinion and Constitutional

Public Opinion Chapter 7

Public Opinion and Constitutional Underpinnings ▪ There is a disconnect between what the people want and the policy that is enacted by our elected representatives ▪ The framers of the Constitution did not intend for the government to always do what the people wanted. – – – Form a more perfect union Establish justice Ensure domestic tranquility Provide for common defense Promote the general welfare Secure the blessings of liberty ▪ Is this for the people, by the people like Lincoln suggests?

Federalism and Public Opinion ▪ The framers did not believe there could just be one public opinion ▪ Competing factions would = many different public opinions ▪ Checks on public opinion – Representative government, federalism, separation of powers, Bill of Rights, independent judiciary – Protecting the people from themselves – Protecting the minority from tyranny of the majority ▪ Do you agree with the framers? Do we need to be protected from ourselves or from the majority?

Polling ▪ Polls cannot give us a clear understanding of the overall public opinion unless they are done using random sampling – Any given voter or adult has an equal chance of being interviewed – Sampling Errors – difference in 2 polls on the same issue conducted using random sampling ▪ Most accurate polls are exit polls – Polls conducted at voting booths on election day

Political Socialization Opinion Saliency • Some care more about certain issues Opinion Stability • Opinions steady on certain issues, but volatile on others Opinion-Policy Congruence • Some government policies match opinion, others do not ▪ Genes and the family: – About ½ of our political views come from our base personality(40%) and parental influence (10%) – Other ½ from personal experiences – Political beliefs do not equal party affiliation ▪ Genes don’t really affect party affiliation (learned from parents and experiences) ▪ Youth are less partisan ▪ Religion – Also a family tradition – Opinions pronounced with social issues – abortion, gay marriage ▪ Gender Gap – Men deserting democrats in favor of Republicans

What separates us? ▪ Class differences – Upper-class v. working-class – Differences in class voting has declined in recent years – Unskilled workers more likely to be democrats, white-collar – republicans – Economy isn’t only determining issue – some white-collar lean left because of social issues ▪ Region – Southerners more likely to be conservative on social issues compared to the Coasts ▪ Not Attached to Democratic party – Coasts generally more supportive of liberal ideals and the democratic party ▪ Race and ethnicity – African-Americans overwhelming democrat – younger ones more closely identify with republicans – Latinos now largest minority group – However, public opinion studies on Latino and Asian. American opinion are rare – Polls in California say that Latinos widely identify as Democrat, but less so than African-Americans and Asian -Americans identify more with Republican party than Anglo-White voters – There is polarization among Asian-Americans and Latinos – Local conditions also affect their views ▪ Are you surprised by any of these demographics? Why or why not?

Political Ideology ▪ A consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue – i. e. liberal, conservative, socialist, radical, moderate ▪ Ideological self-identification surveys show – 37 -40% - conservative or moderate – 20% - Liberal – However, most people do not think of their opinions in an ideological way

Political Elites ▪ The terms liberal and conservative do capture the political views held by our political elites – People with a disproportionate share of political power – Elected officials, campaign workers, journalists, interest groups, activists – These people usually stick to the conventional conservativeliberal spectrum ▪ Think back to the “Bipolar Disorder” Article – Who do you think the elites represent?

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