Public Opinion and Political Socialization PDF

I I I 114 Chapter 5 * Public Opinion and Political Socialization P public opinion ublic opinion is simply the collective attitude of the citizens on a given issue or The collecti...

I I I 114 Chapter 5 * Public Opinion and Political Socialization P public opinion ublic opinion is simply the collective attitude of the citizens on a given issue or The collective attitudes of question. The history of public thinking on issues related to race reveals several citizens concerning a given characteristics of public opinion: I issue or question. I 1. The public's attitudes toward a given issue or policy can vary over time, often dra­ matically. In many areas, opinions about race have moved in the direction of favor­ ing equality over order. Back in 1958, only 4 percent of whites told Gallup that they approve of interracial marriage, compared to 87 percent in 2013.8 2. Public opinion places boundaries on allowable types of policies. The issue of mass incarceration disproportionately affects racial minorities. It has become a promi­ nent political issue in recent years, with public support for mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses declining and support for providing treatment for drug users increasing. In the wake of these changes in attitudes, legislation related to sen - tencing reform has bipartisan support in Congress (though has yet to become law). 9 3. If asked by pollsters, citizens are willing to register opinions on matters outside their experience. Although white Americans do not know what it is like to be black, 67 percent of whites report being satisfied with society's treatment of blacks. 10 4. Governments tend to respond to public opinion. This is particularly true regard­ ing civil rights for a nonracial minority group: gays and lesbians. Not long ago, most states prohibited same sex marriage. As the public grew more supportive of gay rights, many policies changed. The federal government eliminated its ban on having openly gay Americans serve in the military in 2011. That same year, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees the right to same sex marriage. 5. The government sometimes does not do what the people want. Immigration reform is another issue that disproportionately affects racial minorities. A solid majority of Americans, including 95 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Republicans, favor legislation that would allow immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain legal status if they meet certain requirements. A majority has felt this way for years. Nonetheless, immigration reform has stalled in Congress for over a decade. 11 The last two conclusions bear on our understanding of the majoritarian and plural­ ist models of democracy discussed in Chapter 2. Here, we probe more deeply into the nature, shape, depth, and formation of public opinion in a democratic government. What is the place of public opinion in a democracy? How do people acquire their opinions? What are the major lines of division in public opinion? How do individuals' ideology and knowledge affect their opinions? 1 Public Opinion and the Models of Democracy LOI Distinguish the various roles played by public opinion in majoritarian and pluralist democracy. Opinion polling, which involves interviewing a sample of citizens to estimate public opinion as a whole, is such a common feature of contemporary life that we often forget it is a modern invention, dating only from the 1930s. In fact, survey methodology did not become a powerful research tool until the advent of computers in the 1950s. Before