PUBLIC OPINION PUBLIC OPINION Public Opinion the ideas

PUBLIC OPINION

PUBLIC OPINION • Public Opinion: the ideas and attitudes most people hold about elected officials, candidates, government, and political issues. • It’s what most people think about stuff! • 3 aspects: Direction, Intensity, and Stability • 1. Direction • This is the general opinion people hold about a topic, usually positive or negative. Ex: • “I love test days!” is positive. “I hate test days!” is negative.

• 2. Intensity • This is how strongly people feel about a topic. • Ex: • “I would rather not take a test today” is weak. • “If we have to take a test today, I’m gonna flip a desk!” is strong. • (please don’t) • 3. Stability • This is how firmly people stick to their beliefs. • Ex: • If I let you eat snacks on test days and you decide you like tests now, then opinion stability is weak and easily swayed.

POLLS • Pollster: a person who designs and administers polls. • They have to be very careful about polling a representative sample. They need to include people of varying backgrounds to get a full picture of public opinion. • What factors can affect your opinion? • Background (age, gender, race, religion, job, location) • Mass media (what news you watch or read) • Involvement with an interest group

POLLS (CONT. ) • Pollsters also need to be careful about how they word questions. • “Would you support lowering taxes? ” vs. “Would you support lowering taxes if it means letting poor people go hungry? ” • Push Poll: a survey designed to make people answer a certain way. • Propaganda!!!!! Bad!!!!! • While polls can help public officials figure out how people feel, some worry that obsession with polling makes them more worried about reelection than about making wise policy choices.

ON YOUR OWN: • President Franklin D. Roosevelt said this about the importance of public opinion. What do you think he meant by this? Feel free to use the internet to help you form your answer, as long as you don’t copy and paste. (page 319 in your textbook may be more helpful!) • Send your response to me in an e-mail titled “FDR Quote” • “I cannot go any faster than the people will let me. ”