GVPT 170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Fiscal Federalism, Fourteenth Amendment To The United States Constitution, Equal Protection Clause
5 Mar 2018
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What the population thinks about politics and government. Citizen"s political actions are driven by their opinions. Examining public opinion helps explain the behavior of candidates and other political people. It can shed light on the reasons for specific policy outcomes. Latent opinions: most americans political judgments, constructed only as needed such as when answering a survey question or deciding how to vote. Based off of a few general, simple considerations. Start with what they learned from their parents. People learn about politics from those around them. Campaign strategies are formed in thinking of groups. At the individual level politicians know that people"s opinions are driven by life experiences along with much more. Information about public opinion comes from mass surveys. Issue scale: two opposing statements are given and people are asked to agree with what comes closest to their ideals. People can be reluctant to reveal true opinions. When based on simple questions about a familiar topic then helpful.
