Chapter 6 Politics of Public Opinion

The process by which we are trained to understand and join a country’s political world, and, like most forms of socialization, it starts when we are very young

• Political Socialization

• Public Opinion

• Agents of Socialization

• Representative Sample

Gender and Ethnicity, News Media, Peer Groups, Family, Schools, Religion

• Political Socialization

• Public Opinion

• Agents of Socialization

• Representative Sample

Informal polls, informally collect opinions of a non-random population or group

• Random Sample

• Representative Sample

• Straw Poll

• Exit Poll

Consists of a group whose demographic distribution is similar to that of the overall population

• Random Sample

• Representative Sample

• Straw Poll

• Exit Poll

Consists of a limited number of people from the overall population, selected in such a way that each has an equal chance of being chosen

• Random Sample

• Representative Sample

• Straw Poll

• Exit Poll

Consider the following question that is asked on a poll:

"Do you approve of President's Trump's job performance as President?"

Which of the following is an example of a leading question asked directly before this question?

• Where do you live?

• Have you or your family members benefited from the economic boost during the Trump Presidency?

• How satisfied are you with your current school building?

• How do you feel about the current Domestic Growth Production?

This type of poll helps to decide what the candidate’s message should be and what voters care about.

• Exit Polls

• Benchmark Polls

• Tracking Polls

This type of poll tells how a candidate is doing on a day to day basis and how the public responds to the candidate's message.

• Exit Polls

• Benchmark Polls

• Tracking Polls

a theory that assumes the politician is in office to be the voice of the people and to vote only as the people want

• Theory of delegate representation

• Horse race coverage

• Band wagon effect

• theory of favorability polls

Why are public opinion polls so important to elections?

• Media Coverage

• Campaign donations

• Issues Politicians will address

• All of the above