Magruder’s American Government
1st Edition
ISBN: 9780133306996
Textbook solutions
All Solutions
Section 10-5: Public Opinion and Polling
Exercise 1
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**Public opinion** is a great indicator of the political issues that citizens perceive. Candidates use polls to determine citizens’ interests to set the right agenda prior to the elections.
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Candidates usually go through multiple state caucuses and primaries for the same purpose; successful results from elections. There are discussions on strategy and content the candidates will use to try and influence the public positively. The positive in this context represents the solutions for the issues that the public wants or changes to be brought based on popular consent.
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If the public favors a candidate, it is a great advantage because of the boost that will result in an influential campaign and more votes.
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So the formula to influence the public opinion prior the elections is simple: find out what people want, and then present them ways and ideas that regard their interest. It is all because politicians should run the government based on popular sovereignty and consent.
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Public opinion is a very important factor in the election process. It is clear that candidates will be elected only if their views on important issues coincide with the views of the majority.
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For these reasons, candidates conduct opinion polls before elections. If this research is conducted professionally and expertly on a representative sample of citizens who vote in specific elections, candidates can get useful information on the majority views on key issues. Candidates can further use this knowledge during the campaign to gain as many voters as possible.
Exercise 2
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The information gained from polls is more reliable than the one from the media.
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It is because **polls** pose specified questions and acquire clear answers from the people. The key is that the people officially give feedback – because it is recorded. Questions are given, and written responses from the public are collected. The answers are then further analyzed to form statements that offer clarity and specificity of the information from the public opinion. The information is used to form policies and give politicians valuable insights that can dictate the outcome and direction for their actions.
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The **media**, on the other hand, is an unreliable source of information. It can be portraited a certain way, which makes it possible to give false information or make something seem some way, while in reality, it is not like that. The media can also exaggerate matters, twist them, or just show parts of the information. However, people can still give statements and express an opinion. That opinion doesn’t necessarily have to be a general public opinion and can be twisted as well. The media can cover topics of public concern, so there definitely are positives, but it is not as reliable as the information from polls. Furthermore, the media helps inform the public about current political events. Nevertheless, it isn’t a valuable tool for acquiring information on public opinion.
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There are several ways to measure public opinion. Some of them are effective to some extent, while some are significantly effective.
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Measuring public opinion through the polls is the most efficient way. It can only be successful if scientific polling techniques are applied. The results of such tests contain an overview of the answers to the question, but also the entire study with explanations and deeper analysis. If there is a need to examine public opinion on a topic as accurately as possible, this method would be recommended.
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Perceiving public opinion through the media is not a completely reliable method. The media sometimes portrays public opinion, and sometimes it shapes it. Also, very often, the opinions that we can see in the media do not represent the opinions of the public, but of individuals who have the opportunity to present their opinions through the media.
Exercise 3
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**Peer groups** are people who meet regularly and spend some time together. These can be groups of friends, colleagues at work, collaborators in a project, residents of a building, etc. These groups greatly influence the formation of an individual’s political opinion.
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First of all, during socializing with members of the group, individuals exchange opinions on many issues, including political ones, and influence each other to form and crystallize attitudes.
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Also, members of one group may choose to accept the majority political views shared by the group in order to be accepted by other members of the group.
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**Peer groups** are individuals who associate and spend time with others on a regular basis, for example, classmates, friends, colleagues at work, neighbors, and other groups.
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The influence of peer groups starts at a young age and extends through adulthood. Individuals socialize back and forth and share opinions. Peer groups usually think in similar lines, share common experiences and views, and respect other peers’ opinions, so it would be hard for an individual of a peer group to state or believe something controversial to the peer group. **Peer pressure** plays its role on the individuals from the group.
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That is why and how peer groups have a significant impact on individuals’ take on political matters and things outside of politics.
Exercise 4
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If we consider the results of a survey conducted in America at the national level, in which 66 percent of Americans voted in favor of increasing investments in green energy, we can generally conclude that this topic is important for citizens.
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However, this does not mean that citizens think that green energy is important – this research can and only means that citizens think that investing in energy is important.
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The opinion that investing in green energy is important can be formed by individuals who are committed to ecology and are inspired by environmental factors. However, it can also be formed by people who are not driven by environmental at all, but by financial factors, and believe that this increase in investment would lead to savings in the future.
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Therefore, we cannot make a decision on the general position of public opinion only on the basis of the final results of the research. In order to essentially understand public opinion on a topic, it is necessary not only to know the majority opinion of citizens, but also to know the reasons why such an opinion is taken. For these reasons, serious scientific public opinion research, in addition to the final results, is accompanied by additional clarifications and data.
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The poll found that 66 percent of Americans favor increasing national green energy investment. The poll showed that people care about the national outcome. However, the question is **out of what reason would they vote for the green energy investment**.
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Someone might think **green energy investment is vital for environmental reasons**. A movement of progressively switching to green energy leads to the preservation of the environment, which will, in turn, secure the lives of future generations and better the living conditions of this generation.
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**Some people might have voted out of economic reason**, as it might lead to a beneficial investment that will generate resources.
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The statement “the American public agrees that green energy is important?” implies the green energy is important. But the statement doesn’t give any further reason why it is important; it can be for an economic or environmental reason or both.
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Theoretically speaking, the American public thinks green energy is important because most of the population supports the investment into it. Discussing the reason for their vote is another topic, so it can be subjective to say that Americans think green energy is important. For example, John, who supports environmental movements, can say, “green energy is important”. On the other hand, Lucas, who ignores environmental reasons but simply thinks it is an excellent investment, can say “green energy is important” as well.
Exercise 5
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Many factors can influence an individual’s attitude towards political issues. It can be his level of education and awareness, family, friends, educational institutions, race, gender, geographical surroundings and residence, media, art, and more factors.
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Everyone is influenced in some way. Different people are influenced by different things. It can come from the outside and the public or a closer personal circle. Regardless of where it’s coming from, the viewpoint of the individual depends on his character. Someone might be influenced heavily by his parents and think alike, while someone might think completely differently.
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However, the **most usual factors** of the influence are opinions from family and friends, issues the individual might be facing ( based on gender, income, race, social status, or residence), what is portrayed on the media (circumstances, outcomes, prominent political figures), and educational guidelines of what is wrong and what is right.
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The political attitudes of individuals on a specific topic are influenced by many different factors.
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The earliest and most significant factors influencing the political attitudes of individuals are family and school. Individuals form the deepest attitudes during childhood and adolescence, when their environment is family, teachers and peers at school.
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In addition to these initial factors, the most important are occupation, race, gender, place of residence, etc. If, for example, an individual should take a position on a topic that is of a financial nature, most likely his occupation and income will have the greatest influence on the formation of opinions. In the event that an individual develops an attitude on an issue concerning the equality of racial minorities in society, his or her belonging to a particular race will have the greatest impact.
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In addition to these most important factors, the political attitudes of an individual are also influenced by the mass media, belonging to peer groups, the opinion of leaders and experts, historical events, etc.
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