PS 101 Lecture 12: Public Opinion

• School: University of Kentucky
• Department: Political Science
• Course: PS 101
• Professor: Stephen Voss

Document Summary

Syria: 2010, 2012- obama condemned pres. Motivates public officials who want to win reelection. Helps explain the policy outcomes they propose and support. Early theories of public opinion: miller v alabama, uninformed. Ex- everyone (else) knows kylie jenner and miley cyrus but not anthony kennedy. Inconsistent: un, liberal-conservative ideology describes whether a respondent views his/herself as a liberal, moderate, conservative, or something between these categories. Libertarian is considered moderate as well as authoritarian. Does(cid:374)(cid:859)t al(cid:449)ays (cid:449)ork: level of conceptualization. The new theory of public opinion: 3 criticisms of early studies. Not so ig(cid:374)ora(cid:374)t: it is(cid:374)(cid:859)t surprisi(cid:374)g (cid:373)a(cid:374)y people ig(cid:374)ore politi(cid:272)s. No so inconsistent: opinions have stabilized si(cid:374)(cid:272)e the origi(cid:374)al studies i(cid:374) the (cid:858)50(cid:859)s. Not so constrained: original studies were looking for the wrong thing: foundation under public opinion. Public opinion grows out of deeper political attitudes. Party identification (highly likely to mirror political affiliations with parents) Others arise in response to changing events: latent opinions.