GVPT 170 Final Exam 2023 with complete solution
Public Opinion
Those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed
Measuring public opinion
-Micro v Macro
-Dynamic v Static
-Population v Sample
Randomness (surveys)
Each person in a population should have an eq...
GVPT 170 Final Exam 2023 with complete solution
Public Opinion
Those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed
Measuring public opinion
-Micro v Macro
-Dynamic v Static
-Population v Sample
Randomness (surveys)
Each person in a population should have an equal chance of being selected. Should
have 1200 people, not be oversampled
Obstacles to randomness
-small sample size
-exclusion
-self selection
-over sampling
-refusal to participate
-lack of volunteerism
Priming
Wording a question on a sample so that a certain answer is supposed to be yielded-
makes survey not random
Level of Intensity
Level of simplicity or complex questions
How to get near random sample:
-Phone survey/random dialing= cheap, mostly reliable
-showing up at door= time consuming, expensive, most reliable
-polls by academic organizations= highest quality
Attitudes
Sometimes elaborate, usually loosely structured, not that consistent
Top of the head responses
Answer questions based on recent ideas/beliefs/opinions/events
Factors shaping public opinion
-Group attachments= Race, gender, class
-political socialization= how you were politically raised
-Context= economic conditions
-Religion= beliefs more than denomination
-Party Identification
Party Identification
Person's ingrained loyalty to a political party and emotional attachment to it. Includes
group attachment, running tally of evaluations of party actions over time
Changes in Party ID
-Daily/short term= scandals, campaign events, speeches
-Year to year= economic conditions
-Gradual shifts (years/decades)= prevailing ideological sentiment of mass opinion
Uninformed public- individuals
, Most individuals do not hold consistent political opinions. Few citizens have substantial
factual knowledge about politics or care about most issues
Uninformed public- gov't
Allows more leeway for Gov't to respond to narrow interests in specific areas. Allows for
political leaders to try to inform public
Macro public opinion
Behaves more reasonably, cancels out individual noise and errors.
How citizens change opinion
-Observe facts, events info
-Discard specific facts
-update evaluations
-RUNNING TALLIES= ALWAYS CHANGING
Opinion Leaders
Informed individuals who influence those who are less familiar w/ some issues, can
sway them to an extent through discussion
Non-Attitudes
People don't form deep thoughts about issues, only give answers to unfamiliar issues
b/c they feel obligated to
Absolute Questions
Yes/No questions
ex- Do you like guns?
Relative Question
Require thought and levels of opinion
ex- Do we need more, fewer, or the same amount of guns?
Political Ideology
Consistent pattern of political attitudes that stem from core beliefs, thought of in terms of
liberal or conservative
Liberal Ideals
More gov't involvement for social issues to promote equality
Conservative Ideals
Less Gov't intervention, more military spending
Thermostatic Opinion Change
How public political ideology changes in a thermostatic way depending on party in white
house
Issue Evolution
How issues become structured on Right/Left party driven lines. Issues start at cross-
cutting, then critical moments move them onto party lines
Issue Evolution example
Barry Goldwater (R) opposes civil rights and race equality in 1964, this makes
republican party/conservatives anti-civil rights
One-plus Residue
Some issues are not clear cut left/right divide, have "residue"
ex- Gun control
Operational Ideology
Policy Attitudes, how you feel about specific dimensions of issues
Symbolic Ideology
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