Political Beliefs & Behaviors

AP UNIT II
 Alexis De Tocqueville

A foreign observer of American politics, who visited

the United States in 1830’s.

Democracy in America
 Political Culture

 A patterned set of ways of thinking about how politics and

government ought to be carried out.
 Elements of American Political System
 liberty - preoccupation with rights
 equality - equal vote, equal opportunity, equality under the law,
but not equal wealth
 democracy - politicians accountable to the people
Government by the people…for the people
 civic duty - serve community
 individual responsibility – barring some disability,
individuals responsible for own actions and well being
 Political Culture & Public Opinion

 Are closely related, they both refer to the beliefs, values,

and ideas held by the people of a nation.
The difference:
- Political culture involves beliefs, values, and ideas that are
deeply held and widely shared.
(stable over time)
- Public opinion focuses on the peoples view on a wide
range of issues and controversies.
(can change at any moment)
 Political Socialization

process by which parents and others teach children

about values, beliefs and attitudes of political culture
 Agents of Socialization

Family
Schools
Mass Media
Peers
Political Institution & Leaders (especially in times of
crisis)
Religious Organizations

Other than family which one do you think has the

greatest influence? The least?
 Family

 the primary influence on political affiliation

 among high school seniors only 9 percent belong to

members of the opposite party of their parents

 In adults, 60 percent are the same party and the rest are
mostly independents, few are opposite party
 School

Elementary school – give sense of national pride,

idealized notion of govn’t., introduction of authority
figures outside the family, govn’t. seen often as the
president
High school – Greater knowledge of system, can see
erosion in trust of government (especially among
urban youth), most knowledgeable about current
events than past history
College – (important because about 25 % receive
college degrees)
 Students usually become more liberal
-- longer they are in college the more liberal they
become
Why?
People who go to college may be prone to
liberalism (favors social progress by reform and by
changing laws rather than by revolution )

People are exposed to a wider variety of materials

(possibly produced by a liberal cultural elite)

College teaches liberalism

Exception – The higher education level = more
socially liberal (personal freedom), but more
fiscally conservative (economic freedom) –
possibly a reflection of class
College kids today are entering college slightly
more conservative than their predecessors in
the 1970s
How long do you stay liberal?
Depends on: did you marry liberal? are your
friends liberal? level of education, level of
activism during college
 Class
We usually have seen blue collar, or unskilled
workers embrace Democratic and liberal views on
economic policy
Professionals tend to be more conservative on
economic policy
But the electoral division between the classes
seems to be narrowing
 many people vote on social, moral and foreign policy and
not economic issues
 education is liberalizing
 Race

African-Americans
 Heavily democratic (78%) (though younger Blacks more willing to vote
Republican); in more recent elections (2004 & 2008) nearly 90% voted
Democrat
Hispanic
 Mostly Democratic (54%) but can have crossover (George W. Bush as governor)
– Mexican American = Democratic
 Cuban-American = Republican
Asian
 Slim majority who are Republican (38 % Repub, 35% Dem)
 Japanese = more conservative
 Korean = more liberal
White
 More likely to be Republican (35% Repub, 37% Dem) than Black or Hispanic
(but not Asian)
 Race and ethnicity, on the other hand, seems to be a
clearer source of political cleavage than class.
 Many modern differences hinge on remedying past discrimination
and racism.
 Whites are more likely than blacks to support the death penalty for
murder& increased defense spending but less likely to support
national health insurance.
 However, Blacks and Whites do agree that police should be allowed
to search homes of known drug dealers without warrants, that
women shouldn’t be able to get abortions simply by demanding
them, and that marijuana shouldn’t be legalized.
 Blacks have become the most consistently liberal group in the
Democratic Party.
 There also appears to be less divison among [poor and rich] Blacks
than among [poor and rich] Whites.
 Gender

Since the 1960s – more men have been becoming

Republicans creating a gender gap (is a pattern seen
throughout the world)
Main reason seems to be men’s conservatism on
social issues like gay rights, abortion, gun control
and size of government
About 58% of women identify as Democrats
 Geographical region also widely affects political
attitudes.

 Southern members of Congress seem to vote more conservatively

than Northern ones.
 In the past, Southerners agreed with Northerners on issues of
economic issues, but issues of race and liberty always seemed to pull
them apart.
 The Southern lifestyle itself is different from the Northern way of life
since the South has been more receptive to business enterprise and
less so to organized labor than the Northeast.
 The South has been against big government and civil rights, and
lately, less Southerners are identifying themselves as Democrats than
in the 1950s.
 These changes are important, since without the South, no Democrat
except Lyndon B. Johnson would have become president of the
United States.
 Religion

 Generally Protestants more conservative than Catholics

who are more conservative than Jews
Why?
 Class – Jews and Catholics were immigrants who saw more
support with Liberals
 Religious tradition
 Protestants – individual salvation
 Jews – social justice
 The difference is fading with time – tend not to see a lot of
difference on economic issues, more difference on social
issues
 Region

(Don’t see big differences in economic policy)

 South – more conservative socially
 Northeast – more liberal socially
 Midwest – more conservative socially
 West – More liberal socially
I. In a democracy, government policy is supposed to follow public
opinion.
A. Yet the history of capital punishment in America shows that
government policy may resist public opinion.
B. Democratic theory implies that government leaders are able
to ascertain what the public is thinking about current
political and social issues.
1. According to the majoritarian model, government
should do what the majority wants.
2. According to the pluralist model, government should
allow free expression of the often numerous
“minority” opinions.
C. Statistical sampling theory and computer technology have
made it possible to be better informed about the
distribution of the population’s beliefs and attitudes about
politics and government.
1. Modern survey research methodology allows national
opinion to be estimated within specified degrees of
accuracy.
2. The three main factors that influence the accuracy of a
sample are
a. The way the sample is selected: Random sampling
is needed to compute sampling error.
b. The size of the sample: National samples of 1,500
cases will be accurate within three percentage
points, plus or minus.
c. The amount of variation in the population:
Pollsters compute sampling accuracy by assuming
maximum variation in the population.
Gallup Poll accuracy in
predicting presidential elections
over 60 years.
Only 1948 (Truman vs. Dewey)
predicted the winner of the
election incorrectly.
Ross Perot’s third party
candidacy in 1992 skewed the
results in that election year.
D. Knowing how often government policy runs against majority
opinion, it becomes harder to defend the U.S. government
as democratic under the majoritarian view of democracy.
1. Surveys show that citizens often prefer a policy
different from that followed by the government.
2. To evaluate the role of public opinion in U.S.
government, we need to know more about how
opinions are distributed and how citizens acquire their
opinions.
 Public Opinion Polling

http://
www.sciencenetlinks.com/Esheet.cfm?DocID=157

For those of you who have taken or are taking

Psychology, what are possible errors when
surveying?
 Ideology in America

Ideology: A consistent pattern of opinion on certain

issues that stems from a core belief or set of beliefs
“research indicates that no more than a third of
Americans, and perhaps a few as a tenth, have a
pattern of opinions on issues that is consistent enough
to be described as a manifestation of true ideology”
Why do you think this is?
 Ideological Definitions

Conservatives: Emphasize the marketplace as the

means of distributing economic benefits, but look to
the government traditional social values
Liberals: those who favor activist government as an
instrument of economic security and redistribution
but reject the notion that government should favor a
specific set of social values
Populist: Those that favor activist government as a
means of promoting both economic security and
traditional values.
Libertarians: Those who oppose government as an
instrument of traditional values and economic
security.
 ISSUE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE
VIEWS VIEWS

Interpretation of Favor loose Favor strict

the construction – construction –
United States Constitutional interpretation may Constitutional interpretation should
Constitution change as modern society evolves remain constant through the years

Tradition Favor change over Favor tradition

vs. status quo over change
Change
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 Party Identification

 A person’s loyalty to or preference for one political party

 When people identify with a party, they usually agree with
the party’s stance on a few major issues and give little
weight to its stance on issues they consider minor or
secondary.
 An individual’s party identification tends to be life long
unless there is a major shift in a party’s agenda or problems
with its leadership.
Political Participation
 Florida Voting Regulations
 Be a citizen of the United States of America;
 Be a Florida resident;
 Be 18 years old (you may pre-register to vote if you are 17 years old or
have received a valid Florida driver’s license, whichever occurs earlier);
 Not now be adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in
Florida or any other state;
 Not have been convicted of a felony without your civil rights having
been restored; and
 Provide your current and valid Florida driver’s license number or
Florida identification card number. You must provide the last four
digits of your Social Security Number if you do not have a Florida
driver’s license number or a Florida identification card number. If you
do not have any of these items, you must mark the box indicated on the
Voter Registration Application as “NONE.”
 History

Created by delegates during the Constitutional

Convention.
Founding Fathers felt that citizens of the time were
not smart enough to make a decision as large as the
Presidential election.
Tuesday following the first Monday of November in
years divisible by four, the people in each State cast
their votes.
 What if there is no Majority?

 The U.S. House of Representatives (as the chamber

closest to the people) selects the president from
among the top three contenders with each State
casting only one vote.
If a majority is still not reached it goes to the Senate…
 Electors

Each state has a number of electoral votes equal to

the number of representatives and senators.
Electors are chosen by political parties.
There is a total of 538 electors, each with one vote.
Electors vote in the December after a November
election in their states capital.
The House of Representatives
The Senate
Only four times in election history has a
candidate won the popular vote but lost the
election.

 Andrew Jackson (1824)

 Rutherford B Hayes (1876)

 Benjamin Harrison (1888)

 Al Gore (2000)
 Pros of Electoral College

It contributes to a united country by requiring a

distribution of popular support to be elected
president
It enhances the status of minority interests.
It contributes to political stability by encouraging
two-party System. It is extremely difficult for a third
party to win enough popular votes
 Cons of Electoral College
The system makes it possible to elect a
president who has not won an absolute
majority of popular votes.
The risk of so-called “faithless” Electors.
Its failure to accurately reflect the national
popular will. The Electoral College over-
represents unpopulated rural areas.
Time zone factor.
 Why Should I Vote?

Many people say “Why should I vote?” “My vote

won’t make any difference.”
…But one vote decided
 In the 1960 Presidential election, John F. Kennedy’s
120,000 vote edge over Richard M. Nixon was created by
majorities as small as one voter per election district in 12
states. Kennedy won Hawaii by just 115 votes.
 1876

 One vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency of the

United States. In the 1876 presidential election, Samuel
Tilden received a half million more popular votes than
Hayes. The electoral college was not in agreement about
who should be America's next leader. A special commission
was formed to make the final decision. The commission
decided, although Hayes had lost the actual vote by the
citizens of the United States, he had won the electoral vote
by just one ballot: 185 to 184.
 1948

One vote per voting precinct gave Harry S. Truman

the presidency. If Truman's opponent, Thomas E.
Dewey, had received one vote more per precinct in
Ohio and California, there would have been a tie and
the House of Representatives would have decided the
election. And because Dewey had more support in
the House than Truman, Dewey would have won.
 1960

One vote per voting precinct would have elected

Richard Nixon rather than John F. Kennedy
president.
 2000

 The election on November 7, 2000, was the closest

presidential race in history. In the final count, Governor
George W. Bush of Texas won by 4 electoral votes, but Vice
President Al Gore had won the popular vote by 337,576
votes. Bush was the first presidential candidate in more
than a century to win the presidency while losing the
popular vote. The deciding factor in Bush winning the
election was a victory in Florida by just 537 votes over Gore!
 Democratic Republican
Economics (Cont.)
Pro Union “Right to Work” Pro Management
Pro Union Workplace safety Pro Management
Pro consumer Consumer safety Pro Management
Pro trial-lawyers Product liability Pro Management
Strongly favor Environmental regs. Largely oppose
Public prop. rights Property Ownership Private prop. rights
& 5th amendment & 5th amendment
Federalism
Cooperative Fed. Social issues States rights
Nat’l Government Economic issues Nat’l Gov, if at all
Cooperative Fed. Criminal Justice Mostly Nat’l Gov.
Cooperative Fed. Welfare State Control
Prefer Categorical Spending Prefer Block grant
 Democratic Republican
Right to life
Pro Choice Abortion Pro-Life
Generally favor Physic.-assisted suicide Generally oppose
Generally favor Stem cell research Generally oppose
extending cell lines Especially
from frozen research into
embryos extended cell lines
Causes Criminal Justice Punishment
Rights of accused Focus Rights of victims
Treat drug abusers Rights Punish dealers
Decrease demand Drug War Cut off supply

Restrictive interpr. 2nd Amendment “Liberal” interp.

 Democratic Republican
Education
Strongly oppose Vouchers Strongly favor
Sep. church/state Religion Pro relig. Instruction
Up teacher salaries Spending “School Accountability”
Cut classroom size Subsidies to private
educ. / home schools
 Democratic Republican
“Family Values”
Pro civil union, oppose Homosexuality Oppose all unions
marriage ~ “Gay rights” ~ “Special privileges”
Gov. reg. or assistance Health care Maintain private
Gov. encouraged Child care Maintain private
Philosophically support Welfare Philosophically oppose
Willing to “deal” in practice In practice support

Butter, some guns Defense Guns, some butter

Generally favor decrease Spending Usually favor increase
Oppose as wasteful Missile Defense Support as necessary
Focus on ? War on Terror Focus on Iraq
Rights over safety Safety over rights
Criminal justice strategy Pre-emption strategy