AP Government Chapter 7

Reading Log
Nathan Weisskopf
7.1 - What is Public Opinion?
Pages 154 - 156
Questions / Observations:
“What is the best way to optimize questions,
their wording, and order to get the best polling
data? How can you determine this without
simply re-polling the same group with a
different format many different times?”
Terms / Names / Events:
● Random Sampling - Picking people
to surveyed on an entirely random
basis
● Sampling Error - The difference
between the results of random
samples taken at them same time
● Exit Polls - Polls based on interviews
conducted on election day with
randomly selected voters
● Question Wording - The way in
which survey questions are phrased,
which influences how responders will
answer them.
7.2 - What Drives Public
Opinion?
Pages 156 - 166
Summary:
Polls can be inconsistent, or even downright
unreliable, which raises the question, how
much importance should we put in them?
First major academic studies of public opinion
and voting began in the 1940s. They found
that a small selection of Americans were very
informed on the government, with the majority
being uninformed and having undeveloped
opinions. Others found that Americans were
pretty good at developing reasonable
opinions with limited information.
Polls can give relatively accurate data about
as many as 300 million Americans, with
sample sizes as small as 1500 people. Valid
conclusions can only be drawn if the poll is
conducted with the right sample group and
with carefully worded questions.
● Random Sampling
● Sampling Error
● Exit Polls
Once a sample is drawn correctly, the second
component is asking questions correctly.
● Question Wording
Researchers have found that terms that could
mean similar things to the people conducting
the polls, they often mean two entirely
different things to people being polled.
Summary:
Political Socialization and Family

Questions / Observations:
“If Demographics (while averages) do create
large or small desperaties on opinions or
values, is there a way to correct this in order
to ensure people do not fracture based on
very different worldviews?”
Terms / Names / Events:
● Political Socialization - Process
by which one’s family influences
one’s political views.
● Impressionable Years
Hypothesis - Argument that
political experiences during the
teens and early 20s powerfully
shape attitudes for the rest of the
life cycle.
● Gender Gap - Difference in
political views between men and
women.
● Partisanship - An individual’s
identification with a party; whether
they consider themselves a
Democrat, Republican, or
Independent.
● Party Sorting - The alignment of
partisanship and issue positions so
that Democrats tend to take more
liberal positions and Republicans
tend to take more conservatives
ones.
● Political Ideology - A more or less
consistent set of beliefs about what
policies the government ought to
pursue.
● Political Elites - Persons with a
disproportionate share of political
power.
People’s political views and public opinions
are heavily based around their family, and the
process of Political Socialization.
Essentially, parents often tend to impart their
political beliefs either in part or in full onto
their children.
Demographics
The Gender Gap
A clear difference exists of the political beliefs
between men and women. Most easily
termed as the Gender Gap it simply
examines how men and women vote
differently. However, many researches point
out how this has become less clear.
Race and Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity has proven to have clear
differences in the United States. Some of the
greatest being seen between black and white
Americans since the Civil Rights movement in
the 1960s. Researches point to Race and
Ethnicity as one of the biggest contributing
factors
Religion
Americans are inherently religious, with the
majority of the country being some
denomination of Christianity. These religious
beliefs of all Americans tend to play a role in
how they vote, and there are clear differences
between varying religions and denominations.
Overall
While Demographics can point to trends,
many point out that they are little more than
averages, and should not necessarily be
taken as de-facto or representative statistics.
Political Partisanship and Ideology
After family and basic demographics, the
largest contributing to an individual's beliefs
and public opinion is their Political
Partisanship and ideology. These can most
easily be understood as a person’s general
loyalty to a party, and their general stances

7.3 - Political Information and
Public Opinion
Pages 166 - 167
Questions / Observations:
“How can we better educate people on the
structure, and functionality of the
government? As regardless of Heuristics it is
on different issues.
Political Ideology
Ideology is perhaps one of the biggest
contributing factors (if not the biggest) to
someone’s public opinion and personal
beliefs. Loyalty to a party or family-instilled
values may fade overtime, but a person’s
ideology is their own and it constantly
develops overtime. People can be biased or
slanted towards one side, but at the end of
the day it is very difficult to find two people
that will agree on every issue.
Liberal and Conservative Elites
While many may think of Elites as Billionaires
or high-profile politicians, they can also be
something as simple as an activist. To
technically be an elitist, you just have to wield
more proportional power politically than other
individuals. Due to activists being more
politically involved, they would wield more
political power, and on a conceptual basis,
would be considered elitists. Elitists have also
been shown to more often fall into a Liberal -
Conservative Spectrum than normal people.
Political Elites heavily influence public opinion
and public policy in America due to their
disproportionate share of power.
Summary:
While many are concerned due to the lack of
political information held by most Americans,
others argue that this is not an issue. People
that argue that this is not an issue make the
case that Americans use Heuristics, or
informational shortcuts to make informed
decisions.
important for people to know their
government works.”
Terms / Names / Events:
● Heuristics - Informational
shortcuts used by voters to make a
decision.
7.4 - Public Opinion and Public
Policy
Pages 167 - 168
Questions / Observations:
“How can we best keep public policy
formation in a position where it favors the
average person, rather than an economic
elite?”
Other experts argue that while Heuristics can
work to some extent, there are reasonable
limits to which they should be exercised, and
Americans being informed on the structure of
the government is still important for making
intelligent decisions.
Summary:
Public Opinion heavily shapes public policy,
and the opinions held by the population are
key for politicians to understand in order to
get elected.
The majority is not always favored however,
politicians are often more responsive to a
minority opinion, especially if those holding
the opinion are more politically active. This
“What are the benefits to always going with
the majority opinion, if any?”
Terms / Names / Events:
can be seen through the public debate on
gun-control, in which opponents are shown to
be more politically active and willing to give
donations to candidates which favor their
position.
A more worrying example of public policy
guidance however is studies which show it
favors economic elites. Those with money
inherently have more influence, and in order
to stay in a place of economic advantage they
often take a more active role in politics.