American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION| 139

Characteristics of American Public Opinion

American public opinion encompasses what people think of the federal govern-
ment, their ideological beliefs, and their positions on key public policy questions.
These opinions drive public demands for government action, from spending to
regulation and other types of policy. So, to understand what America’s national
government does and why, we have to determine what Americans ask of it. We also
need to understand diff erences of opinion that divide Americans, from specifi c
questions of policy to general statements of belief.

Ideological Polarization

We begin by examining liberal–conservative ideology and party identifi cation
to see if historical data show evidence of polarization. Are there fewer moder-
ates and more strong liberals and conservatives today compared to a generation
ago? Figure 5.1 shows data on Americans’ ideological opinions from the 1970s to
2010, aggregated (grouped) by decade. The plots show no evidence of ideological
polarization—a culture war that expresses itself in Americans’ ideology. Over
the last several decades a strong majority of Americans have continued to say they

ideological polarization The

effect on public opinion when many

citizens move away from moderate

positions and toward either end of

the political spectrum, identifying

themselves as either liberals or

conservatives.

Source: Data from 2008 General Social Survey, http://sda.berkeley.edu/archive.htm (accessed 9/5/12).

LIBERAL–CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY IN AMERICA

Many commentators describe politics in America as highly confl ictual, with most
Americans holding either liberal or conservative points of view and very few people in
between. Do opinion data confi rm or disprove this description?

FIGURE » 5.1

1970

20

40

60

80%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Moderates Conservatives Liberals

PRESENT FINDINGS ON

WHAT AMERICANS THINK

ABOUT MAJOR POLITICAL

ISSUES