Public Policy, and Political Socialization

Student objectives:

1 Learn the factors that influence public opinion

2. Recognize the factors that contribute to political socialization

PUBLIC OPINION and POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

“Public opinion is simply the collective attitudes of the citizens on a given issue or question.” (Janda) “Public Opinion is the distribution of citizens opinion on matters of public concern or interest.” (Jillson) Political Socialization is the process whereby individuals become aware of tenets of political culture, political facts, and political values. (Jillson and Janda) It happens through the influence of parents, the media, friends, employment and a variety of other stimuli.

It stands to reason that if people are not exposed to relevant facts, important ideas, and critical thinking processes, their ability to self-govern is going to be limited, perhaps severely.

It is inevitable that people will be most influenced by those factors to which they are exposed growing up. There is a saying among financial consultants and investors that “poor people have poor ways.” This is not meant to be disparaging towards a class of people based upon their income level, but it is a statement about the effects on the conduct of that group which is economically similarly situated. It means that the decisions that group makes concerning their money will predictably result in a continuation of their economic situation. Put another way, “If you keep on doin’ what you’ve been doin’, you’ll keep on getting’ what you’ve been gettin’” The kinds of decisions that people make, whether in investments, religion, or politics, will be largely influenced by the examples of those around them.

Political socialization works for the political scientist as an accurate predictor of political beliefs and, by extension, voter preferences. Demographic factors such as sex, race, age, education, income, and region all become important indicators of how a voter will feel about particular issues. Part of the equation also involves the impact of media but the quality and type of media (TV, Radio, Internet) is also related to income and, to a lesser extent, to sex (Not gender. Gender is a grammatical term. Nouns have gender. People have sex. Academics should know better.)

Ideological coherence.

Not too long ago, most American’s political ideology was fairly delineated in terms of “Conservative” or Liberal.” Today, people are more “issues” aware and might find themselves strongly conservative on some issues and liberal on others. I believe that this is because there is so little education about philosophical principles. The media blitzes us with sound bites on specific issues and our political opinions get shaped by TV personalities rather than by coherent political ideology. The textbooks (both Jillson and Janda) agree that Americans will readily express a political opinion but that most do not have a well-thought out ideological perspective. As a result, their opinions are easily shifted and changed with the addition of new information. However, most Americans also lack the critical thinking skills to assess the validity or relevance of that information so their opinions are easily manipulated by whoever controls the media. Media influence then becomes a political question for discussion.

MEDIA

How much power should the media have? Should there be controls on the media? If so, who should control it? Putting the government in charge of media is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. What are the implications for free speech? What about our commitment to a “Free Market” economy? Shouldn’t the media be able to do whatever will make profit? What if “equal time” for opposing candidate’s views does not generate profit? Who can you trust? How do you know that you really trust any media when it is a business and the bottom line is profitability? Does the Media owe a duty to the public since Americans rely so much on the media to make informed decisions?

The media can influence people as much by what they DO NOT say as by what they DO say. Leaving a subject completely untouched, or putting it on the back pages of the paper, will have an impact on the importance (or lack thereof) that people will attach to that item. The media plays an important agenda-setting function for political issues.

These questions and issues regarding media and the process of socialization bring up important other questions about the “right” to vote. It is not unreasonable to ask if the “right” to vote isn’t really a privilege of citizenship that carries with it a certain duty to be informed. How can justice be achieved if people who are not paying taxes are allowed to vote benefits for themselves that will result in increased taxes for everyone else? Is it really in the best interest of America for people to vote for a law-maker who promises to violate the constitution in order to deliver on a promise to some special interest group? Shouldn’t people be at least somewhat knowledgeable about the constitution before they are permitted to change it? Our textbooks point out how easy it is for the media to influence most people because they have no ideological “anchor” to give cohesion to their political views. The evidence seems to suggest that people today are even less savvy about politics than were our predecessors and the founders were concerned about granting too much power to the people even then.