Public Opinion: Distribution of views on matters of the public

5 views, %s of ppl

Stimson Theory of Public Opinion:

Why the public believes what they believe--- his theory
5 sets of ideas: attention and concern about issues
1. Vast majority do not know anything about the polls
Most ppl pay next to no attention about politics and the data is undeniable
Given this, most ppl do not care much about politics either
A minority of Americans DO care. They are the most important members of
the public. Try to persuade others, votes can be swayed, they speak up---ISSUE PUBLICS
2. Non attitudes and aggregation gain
Public opinion is orderly a set of predictable responses and follow real world
events
NON ATTITUDES: ppl dont have views about politics, but when asked in a poll
they give an opinion not real opinions not real views
When you poll a large group, non attitudes cancel one another out and the
leaning in the polls comes from the issue publics
Aggregation Gain: the miracle of aggregation
We can learn something from polls even though people 17-18pg
Aggregation is how it can seem orderly even though people answer randomly
People who dont care take cues from the issue publics
- You dont know about a particular issue but you know someone who does
know something about something
- Causes internally consistent views and orderly surveys
- 2 reasons why: some ppl feel embarrassed about seeming indifferent to
politics. Pollsters also do not take dont know as an answer (pressing ppl
to have a view because some ppl say they dont know but really have a
strong opinion)
3. More or less of something like a thermostat public opinion can tell us this
thermos even if the
a. Public opinion Does not offer forward control, a plan to politicans but
instead feedback
We ask how represented is the public? 1 st: are a fair number of cases when
majority of americans want something one way and government is doing it
another way, but government can do more or less in a certain area and it
looks that a lot of the time it does do more or less. Static vs dynamic
representation and were better with dynamic
2nd: Overshooting point in general the public is more moderate. The politician
has to overshoot. Recurring theme. More conservative than the public
conservative this is why no party tends to hold office for over 12 yrs
1960s were more conservative but the 2nd have was so liberal

Thermostatic public opinion explains another area: no long term trends in one
direction we dont see ppl wanting more and more for decades, less and less
for decades with exception to education and environment. Except: majority
getting bigger and bigger all have to do with equal rights. Blacks gay and
women. Legal equality went from minority and then majority and even more
majority (30-32pg)
4. Public opinion is unidimensional. More or Less: gun control, regulation of
workplace safety, environment, tax, Stinson argues not that different: he
shows you that over decades of public opinion data when liberal on gun
control, liberal on health care, (stakes out liberal or conservative across the
board)
a. Even though intrinsically different
Virgina Woolfe reading:
Its a seemingly unrelated reading, yet writing about angry reaction of post
impressionism exhibit. French painting in England and contemporary French
painting: bold use of color and abstraction::
Ppl reacted very strongly. Called it pornographic and terrible.
Lee is not just writing about exhibit, also womens sufferage movement (brutally
suppressed African uprising) point is: reactions to all this phenomena were
happening together. Opinions to distinct issues tract to eachother
Theory of Public Opinion:1. Attention to issues or lack thereof 2. Non attitude and
agg gain 3. Thermostatic nature of public opinion 4. Unidimensionality of PO