Political Science 2244E Lecture Notes - Push Poll, Rational Ignorance
Document Summary
Political ideology: complex, interrelated set of beliefs and values, form general philosophy about government. Public opinion: how people think or feel about particular things. The most stable is ideology, next is set of values and beliefs. We do get info from polls, but media thinks they get more info from polls than they actually do. Most people don"t think about politics at all. People name politicians: only 25% people can name their 2 senators, 29% people can name their representative, >50% people know that the amend 1-10 = bill of rights. Takes a lot of energy and time to learn and understand = makes people not willing to. E. g. watch comedy shows (colbert report and daily show), church, family, school and learn. If you can"t defend interests you think are important, you"ll lose. Easier to manipulate people and political process. Single most important factor in conducting a valid scientific poll is: