G813
GITELSON AND CARNEY CH. 5 PUBLIC OPINION & POLITICAL PARTICIPATION (F)
DEFINITIONS: majority—more than 50% but less than 100%; electorate—people who vote; SES—socio-economic-status or class; NAFTA—North American Free Trade
Agreement (Common Market); affluent;
per capita; on a par YEAR: 1945—Franklin
D. Roosevelt dies and World War II ends
I. Political public opinion:
people’s views concerning political issues (p. 129)
II. How we develop beliefs and opinions
A.
Political socialization: process of acquiring political values
and knowledge (130)
B.
Agents of political socialization:
1.
Family: Children have a strong tendency to adopt the party
identification of their parents (131).
2.
Friends tend to reinforce our beliefs since we associate ourselves with
like-minded people as we get older (131).
3.
School: Better-educated people are more likely to hold liberal views and
more likely to participate (131).
4. Media:
Impact varies depending on viewing and reading habits (132-133).
5.
Religion teaches morals and values, influencing attitudes about
political issues (133).
C.
Political culture: set of values and beliefs about
government shared my most in society (130).
*1. In
2.
There are a vast variety of subcultures that have different views on most
issues (130)
III. How scientific polls work
A.
Random probability sampling (or
random sample): Theoretically, every individual in the population has an equal
chance of being selected. (134)
B.
Sources of inaccuracy--sample not
random—each person does not have an
equal chance of being questioned (134), biased questions (135)
IV. Avenues of political participation:
attempts to affect government policies in addition to voting (142)
A.
Voter turnout has dropped over the last 30 years with only 51% of eligible
voters voting in 2000, which is lower than most other democracies (142,
145).
B.
Other forms of participation include discussing politics, sending letters to
representatives, contributing money to campaigns, attending public hearings,
and civil disobedience (142, 144-145).
C.
Civil disobedience: peaceful refusal to obey laws believed to be
unjust such as boycotts and sit-ins (144). Civil disobedience increased since
the 1960’s (145).
V. Demographic influences on opinion,
participation, and party loyalty
A. Education: Higher levels of education lead
to higher levels of participation (131)..
B.
Gender: Women are resister slightly more Democratic (139); more females
than males voted in Pres. elections since 1964 and
number of female elected officials is
rising (147)
C.
Age: 18-25 year olds are the least likely to participate (139).
People over 25 more likely to participate (146).
D.
Race and Ethnicity
1.
Whites slightly more Republican (141)
2.
African Americans are strongly democratic (141). Participation
levels have increased greatly in the last 30 years (146).
3. Hispanics,
except for Cubans, tend to be Democratic (141). Participation is low but is likely
to rise (148).
4.
Asians and Native Americans have low participation levels, but likely
they are to rise (149).
E.
Religion: Jews and Catholics are more likely to register Democratic,
Protestants are more likely to register Republican (141).