Public Opinion Flashcards
Public opinion
values and attitudes citizens hold about political issues, events, and candidates
Values
deep-rooted goals and ideals shaping political participation (long term)
Attitudes
specific feelings, beliefs, thought on issues and events
Civic Culture
free fair and meaningful elections, rights/liberties for winning, rule of law, civic culture (beliefs that support civilian participation), trust in system, and political knowledge
Non-Attitudes
result from lack of knowledge, change opinions easily
Political Knowledge
most citizens know little about politics
Rational Ignorance
they free ride off attention/knowledge of cue givers and know just enough to predict the outcomes of policies
Ideology
An elaborate set of organized, internally consistent attitudes that allow one to understand, evaluate, and respond to politics
Conservatism
on right end of the spectrum
Liberalism
on the left end of the spectrum
Constraint
We can predict attitudes based on stances of views, a key requirement for being ideological
Sources of Public Opinion
parents, education, ideology and constraint, self-interests, partisan identification and groups,
Puzzle of individual v. aggregate opinion change
individual opinion (not very stable); aggregate opinion (stable over time; when it changes it makes sense)
Cues/Heuristics
Cues=someone primes you/tells you what to think; Heuristics= person discovers on their own
Stereotyping
(one of the ways ethnocentrism is expressed) beliefs we possess about social groups
Priming
The psychological process of shaping people’s perception of a particular issue, figure, or policy
Framing
establishes the context for an issue in such a way as to emphasize certain aspects over others
Thermostat Model
when policy moves in one direction, public opinion moves in other direction, and then policymakers respond
Negative partisanship
result of membership in parties being aligned with race, religion etc., difficult for parties to work together for common goal, increased separation
Racial Resentment
idea of other people were oppressed and rose up, so blacks can do it too (they dont try hard enough)
