American Public Opinion : Its Origins, Content and Impact

Print version:

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Brief Contents; Table of Contents; List of Figures and Table; Preface; 1 Public Opinion in Democratic Societies; Public Opinion and Government; Public Opinion Defined; The Evolution of the Public Opinion Poll; The Modern Public Opinion Poll and Its Political Consequences; Sources of Information on Public Opinion; Current Polling Data; Linkage Models Between Public Opinion and Public Policies; The Rational-Activist Model; The Political Parties Model; The Interest Groups Model; The Delegate Model; The Sharing Model; Plan of This Book. Critical Thinking QuestionsEndnotes; 2 Polling: The Scientific Assessment of Public Opinion; The Value of Polls; Politicians and the Polls; The Public Looks at the Polls; Sampling; Sampling Theory; Bad Sampling: Two Historical Examples; Sampling Methods for In-Person Surveys; Telephone Surveys; Interactive Voice Response (Robotic) Telephone Polls; Internet Polls; Question Wording; Question Asymmetries; Multiple Stimuli; Question Order Effects; Balanced Arguments; The Middle Position; Response Acquiescence; Filter Questions; Open-Ended Questions; Social Desirability. The Question Wording ExperimentSummary: The Pitfalls of Question Wording; Polls and Predicting Elections; Allocating Undecideds; Deciphering Who Votes; How Accurate Are the Polls?; Election Day Exit Polls; Conclusion; Critical Thinking Questions; Endnotes; 3 Microlevel Opinion: The Psychology of Opinion-Holding; Political Attention and Opinion-Holding; Levels of Political Knowledge; Context and Political Information; Measuring Political Knowledge; Knowledge and Opinions; Converting Information into Opinions; Low Information Rationality; Depth of Opinion-Holding; The "Nonattitudes" Explanation. The "Measurement Error" ExplanationAn Explanation Based on Response Probability; Liberal-Conservative Ideology and the Organization of Opinions; Liberal and Conservative Terminology; Use of Ideological Language; Ideology as Liberal-Conservative Consistency; Ideological Thinking: A Summary; Party Identification and the Organization of Political Opinions; Perceptions of Party Differences; Party Identification and Policy Preferences; Party Identification: Psychological Identification or Running Tally?; Political Polarization; Critical Thinking Questions; Endnotes. 4 Macrolevel Opinion: The Flow of Political SentimentThe Micro Foundations of Macro Opinion; Trends in Policy Opinions; Social Welfare Issues; Civil Rights; Foreign Policy; Cultural Issues; General Ideological Movement; General Partisan Movement; Presidential Approval; The Honeymoon; Rally-Round-the-Flag Effect; The Economy; Presidential Approval and Presidential Success; Conclusion: What Moves Public Opinion?; Critical Thinking Questions; Endnotes; 5 Political Socialization and Political Learning; The Preadult Years: Socialization to Citizenship