PL SC 001 Study Guide - Final Guide: Social Capital, Limited Government, Extrapolation
22 Apr 2016
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Public opinion: those opinion held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed. National poll, sample size between 1,200 to 1,500. In-person interviews: select a random sample from a population of interest, ask the people in the appropriate questions, count answers, extrapolate the results. People use the relevant information they have to form political attitudes. A few basic facts are known by most. Knowledge about specific policy debates are often limited. Americans aren"t fools, they just don"t value political knowledge. Aggregate public opinion = the sum of all individual opinions. Aggregate partisanship = the distribution, or percentage of the electorate that identifies with each of the political parties. Distinguish between core issues, attitudes, partisanship, and ideologies. Core issues: moral beliefs held by citizens that underlie their attitudes toward political and other issues. Attitudes: an organized and consistent manner of thinking and feeling about people, groups, social issues, or, more generally any event in one"s environment.
