CHAPTER SIx • PublIC OPInIOn, POlITICAl SOCIAlIzATIOn, And THE MEdIA 141
agenda setting 119
bias 138
consensus 117
divided opinion 117
gender gap 125
generational effect 121house effect 128
media 119
opinion leader 119
opinion poll 125
peer group 119political
socialization 117
political trust 130
public agenda 132
public opinion 117sampling error 127
sound bite 135
spin 137
spin doctor 137
tracking poll 127keyterms
chaptersummary
1 Public opinion is the aggregate of individual
attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of the
adult population. A consensus exists when a large
proportion of the public appears to express the same
view on an issue. Divided opinion exists when the
public holds widely different attitudes on an issue.
2 People’s opinions are formed through the
political socialization process. Important factors in
this process are the family, educational experiences,
peer groups, opinion leaders, the media, and
political events. The influence of the media as a
socialization factor may be growing relative to that
of the family. Voting behavior is also influenced by
demographic factors such as education, economic
status, religion, race and ethnicity, gender, and
geographic region.
3 Most descriptions of public opinion are based
on the results of opinion polls. The accuracy of
polls depends on the sampling techniques used. An
accurate poll includes a representative sample of the
population being surveyed and ensures randomness
in the selection of respondents.
4 Problems with polls include the difficulty of
persuading people to participate, badly weighted
samples, questions that are poorly worded or do not
allow a sufficient range of responses, and sometimes
the respondents’ interactions with the interviewer.
“Polls” that rely on self-selected respondents are
inherently inaccurate and should be discounted.
5 The political culture provides a general
environment of support for the political system,
allowing the nation to weather periods of crisis. The
political culture also helps Americans to evaluate
their government’s performance. At times, the level
of trust in government has been relatively high; atother times, the level of trust has declined steeply.
Generally, though, Americans turn to government
to solve what they perceive to be the major problems
facing the country.
6 Public opinion also plays an important role
in policymaking. Politicians cannot always be
guided by opinion polls, however. This is because
respondents often do not understand the costs and
consequences of policy decisions or the trade-offs
involved in making such decisions.
7 The media are enormously important in
American politics today. They perform a number
of functions, including (a) entertainment, (b) news
reporting, (c) identifying public problems,
(d) socializing new generations, (e) providing a
political forum, and (f) making profits. Television
remains the most important medium, in particular
among older voters, who are the most likely to make
it to the polls. Younger Americans are turning to the
Internet as a source of information.
8 The political influence of the media is
most obvious during political campaigns.
Today’s campaigns use advertising and expert
management of news coverage. For presidential
candidates, how they appear in campaign
debates is of major importance. Internet blogs
and podcasts, as well as sites such as YouTube
and Facebook, are transforming today’s political
campaigns.
9 Frequently, the mainstream media have been
accused of liberal bias, although some observers
contend that these accusations result from true
stories that offend conservatives. Other possible
media biases include a bias against political “losers”
and in favor of drama.Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.