American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

WHAT IS PUBLIC OPINION?| 127

What Is Public Opinion?

Public opinion describes what the population thinks about politics and
government—what government should be doing, evaluations of what government is
doing, and judgments about elected offi cials and others who participate in the politi-
cal process—as well as the wider set of beliefs that shape these opinions.
Public opinion matters for three reasons.
First, citizens’ political actions—including voting, contributing to campaigns,
writing letters to senators, and undertaking other kinds of activism—are driven by
their opinions.^5 Therefore, if we want to explain either an individual’s behavior or
broader political outcomes, such as who wins an election or the fate of a legislative
proposal, we need good data on public opinion.
Second, examining public opinion helps explain the behavior of candidates,
political parties, and other political actors. Politicians look to public opinion to
determine what citizens want them to do and how happy citizens are with their
behavior in offi ce.
Third, because public opinion is a key to understanding what motivates citizens
and political offi cials, it can shed light on the reasons for specifi c policy outcomes.
For example, changes in the policy mood—the public’s demand for new policies—
are linked to changes in government spending.^6 When people want government
to do more, spending increases more rapidly; when people want less from govern-
ment, spending goes down (or increases more slowly). Thus, to explain what gov-
ernment does and why, we need to measure and understand public opinion.

Describing Public Opinion

Modern theories of public opinion distinguish between two types of opinions.

The fi rst are broad expressions such as how a person thinks about politics, what

he or she wants from government, or principles that apply across a range of

issues. These kinds of beliefs typically form early in life and remain stable over

DEFINE PUBLIC OPINION,

AND EXPLAIN WHY IT

MATTERS IN AMERICAN

POLITICS

public opinion Citizens’ views on

politics and government actions.

ARE AMERICANS POORLY INFORMED about politics? One survey found that more Americans could identify characters on The Simpsons than

could list which liberties the Bill of Rights guarantees, and another found most respondents unable to name any Supreme Court justices.