I. Reasons why gov't policy is at odds with public opinion

A. Framers didn't intend to have a gov't to achieve the people's goals daily

1. Preambel lists 6 of Framers' goals--to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the commmon defense, promote general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty

2. ways to achieve their goals: voting for House of Rep; representative gov't; federalism; sep of powers; Bill of Rights and independent judiciary

B. It's not east to know what the public thinks--public opinion polls only work so far

C. the more people are active in and knowledgeable about pol, the more weight their opinions carry in gov't affairs--pol. elites

II. What is Public Opinion?

A. reflects 3 aspects

1. ignorance--monetary control bill did not exist yet people were in favor of it; people can also not identify their secretary of defense or chief justice of the US Sup Court

2. how the question is worded--people tend to favor different policies depending on how the question ois worded

3. stability--opinions change w/ a few months time

III. The origins of pol attitudes

A. partly manipulated by gov't and media, but most come from what we have learned independently from these 2 groups

B. family--party identification; ability to affect this has declined in recent years though

1. children are more independent of their parents in pol preferences than in party ID

C. religion--Catholics are more liberal than Protestants on econ issues and Jews are more liberal than both on econ and social issues

1. 2 theories

a. social status---Cath and Jews were often poor and objects of discrimination so they will ID w/ the party who is sympathetic to their interests

b. religious tradition--Jews emphasize social justice as much as personal rectitude; evangelical Protestants--personal salvation more than social policy; therefore, JEws are more liberal and Protestants more conservative

2. no significant differences in how people w/ different views on the Bible feel about econ issues

D. the Gender Gap--differences b/n men and women

1. 1950s women are Republicans; 1960s--Democrats

2. gap tends to disappear during years when sex-sensitive policies are not as important

E. schooling and information

1. college makes people more liberal --this could happen for many reasons: a person's natural traits; exposed to more info about politics from all sources (the longer one is in school, the more exposed he is to the views of the elites there); college might "teach" liberalism

IV. cleavages in public opinion

A. cross-cutting cleavages based on race, ethnicity, religion, region, education, income, occupation

B. social class--what do you define it as? occupation? wealth? schooling?

1. pub opin and voting are less determined by class in US than in Europe

2. class cleavage has declined in past few decades in US and Europe due to the spread of higher education

3. voting patterns of different classes have become more similar

4. unskilled workers are more likely than white-collar workers to be Dem.

5. upper class is more likely to be Dem b/c of their college schooling

C. race and ethnicity

1. whites and blacks differ on many issues--most recently how to remedy the effects of past racial discrimination

2. similar views on police searches of drug dealers' homes w/o a warrant, opposing a woman's right to abortion on demand, opposing the leagalization of marijuana, both oppose specific quotas and numerical goals for integration

3. less class cleabage among blacks than whites; there is a significant gap b/n leaders of black organization and black people generally; leaders more likely to favor abortions, school busing, affirmative action and forcing US corporations to pull out of Africa

4. Latinos ID themselves as Dem., but are less liberal than blacks; Asians ID w/ Rep.

D. region

1. southern vs. northern

a. southerners have become more conservative and less attached to Dem. Party

b. w/o the votes of the south, no Dem. would have been elected President (except Clinton b/c there were 3 candidates)

V. Political ideology--a coherent and consistent set of beliefs about who ought to rule, what principles rulers ought to obey and what policies rulers ought to pursue

A. "liberal" and "conservative" do not have distinct definitions

B. pol scientists measure extent of pol ideology in 2 ways

1. seeing how frequently people use broad pol categories to describe their own views or to justify their preferences

2. seeing to what extent the policy preferences of a citizen are consistent over time or based at any one time on certain consistent principles

a. from this method it has been determined most American voters are moderates, followed by conservatives and then liberals

C. consistent attitudes--people can have an ideology although it does not line up along standard lines; positions are also inconsistent b/n policies--people choose w/o regard to liberal or conservative modes

D. What do liberalism and conservatism mean?

1. terms have changed meaning over time and still mean something different to each individual

E. Various categories--people have differnt views on each (3 total)

1. the economy--liberal wants gov't involvement and increase taxes for affluent

2. civil rights--liberals want federal involvement to increase minority rights

3. public and political conduct--liberals are tolerant of protests, want to protect rights of the accused, legalize marijuana, etc.

F. analyzing consistency--using views on economy and personal conduct; here are 4 ideologies:

1. pure liberals--liberal on both issues; in 1980=about 1/4 of population; likely to be young, college-educated and Jewish or non-religious

2. pure conservatives--conservative on both issues; in 1980 about 1/6 of population; tend to be older w/ higher incomes, white and live in midwest

3. libertarians--conservative on econ issues and liberal on social ones; about 1/6 of population in 1980; tend to be young, college-educated, white, higher incomes, no religion, live in the west

4. populists--liberal on econ issues and conservative on social ones; about 1/4 of population in 1980; tend to be older, poorly educated, low-income, religious, female and live in south or midwest

***there are many exceptions to these, they are only examples

G. political elite--people who have a disproportionate amount of some valued resource-money, schooling, prestige, athletic ability, political power, etc.

1. every society has one; more than one in our society

2. better informed people are more likely to have consistently conservative or liberal views

3. the more active you are in politics, the more you will associate with people who agree with you on some issues

H. Is there a "new class"?

1. consists of people who are advantaged by the power, resources and growth of gov't and not business as was the old class

2. have a stake in the growth of gov't and tend to have high incomes

3. middle class has been split in tow according to John McAdams

a. traditional middle class--people who have gone to college but not beyond and live in suburbs, go to church and are well disposed to business and have conservative views on social issues, are likely to vote Rep.

b. new or liberal middle class--people who have postgraduate education, live in or near big citie, are critical of business, have liberal views on social issues, are likely to vote Dem.

c. this has been particularly felt by the Dem party b/c it used to find it's strength in the coalitions of blue-collar workers

VI. Political Elites, public opinion, public policy

A. elites influence public opinion in 2 important ways:

1. they raise and frame political issue

2. they state the norms by which issues should be settled

a. norm--standard of right or proper conduct

B. they shape the policy, but do not define the problem

C. other times, they will define the problem and give policy options with respect to foreign affairs