Does Public Opinion Form?

As society rapidly changes with an influx of new ideas and issues, studying the college educated and those who are not will help evaluate behaviors and attitudes towards the government, ultimately, clearing the way to adaption into a modern society that perhaps offer remedies of educational and voting discrepancies or even close the gaps between political ideology or identification. Hence, this paper proposes the research question: How does education level influence political party identification.

Political socialization begins early on in life and is an ongoing process affecting individuals throughout. It is how people eventually identify personal beliefs and expectations in American politics. These political views can include our level of patriotism, faith in the democratic system, standards by which we hold governing bodies, and opinions regarding public policies. From the playground to the classroom, the office to the dinner table, much of our lives affect our political opinions. The most easily identified agents of this are family, schooling, peers, mass media, political parties and religious influences. Furthermore, these means indoctrinate us in the political society through four basic

From 1972 to 2004, Abramowitz points out that the correlation between ideology and party identification rose from .32 to .63 showing an increase over time from a more moderate stance to a more polarized one in the engaged electorate. In the 1984 to 2004 ANES, the least interested and least informed Americans were shown to be in the middle of the liberal-conservative spectrum, while the more informed and active constituents were more likely to be more polarized. From the 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) data, Abramowitz states that even Independents leaned more liberal or conservative than weak Democrats or weak Republicans respectively. Again, nonvoters made up forty-one percent of the center of the distribution affirming that only the nonvoters are non-ideological and non-polarized. In regards to social groups, Abramowitz concluded that religious commitment mattered more than social status, but overall, voter’s ideological beliefs made a greater impact on party loyalty than being part of any social

Political socialization often times begins during childhood; most parents do not consciously indoctrinate their children into partisanship, but they are nevertheless the main teachers of political attitudes. This early identification, according to Hershey, takes hold before children have much information as to what the parties

A socioeconomic status is the level of education and income a person has. People with higher educations and incomes are more likely to vote than people with lower educations and incomes. When it comes to voting one's “education level is the single most important factor in predicting whether an individual will vote” (218). Other socioeconomic groups that influence whether or not a person will vote is their partisan tie. “Individuals with strong partisan ties to one of the major political parties are more likely to vote then nonpartisans or independents” (218). Nonpartisans and independents may not feel as if they owe as much to a certain party. Therefore, they don’t feel obligated to vote in an

A persons social, educational and/or economic background can affect how or they vote. A person’s social background can affect the way they vote by the fact that their social background defines how one was raised. You can be raised to be or think a certain way. People raised into a family of wealth will tend to have a better educational and economic background which also affects the voting turnout. According to Bardes, Shelley, and Schmidt, authors of, “American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials 2015-2016 Edition,” “the more [educated a voter is, the more likely they are to vote].” This indicates that people who have been well educated and have gone

The political socialization in developing my thoughts by watching television and social media and talking to my peers played a significant role when putting together what I believed about politics in some way It push me to believe what the media were talking about the candidate

A belief shared by most people, the voice of the people. The opinion of the public is the popular view. Opinions bring public beliefs to the attention of decision/policy makers. Public opinion is that opinion which government must heed to. Public opinion is reflected by public policy through five models according to Norman Luttbeg.

But I do understand that public opinion polls play an important role in politics. They are used throughout the course of election campaigns by candidates and by the media to see which candidates are ahead and who is likely to emerge victorious. The results of these polls, in turn, largely determine where future campaign monies are to be spent and where each candidate's efforts will be concentrated until the close of the campaign. My political opinion is influenced by public opinion because, knowing the role of the candidates and how they act is a huge part when it comes to voting on election day. Seeing how they act through media can change your opinion on how you see the person who’s running for presidency. Also, you can keep up with everything and see who’s winning the race. This also shows the months before elections, news coverage often focuses on the results of pre-election polls, and the accumulating of polling results on websites further increases their availability to the

148). In essence, every voter has some political beliefs and values that often influence the way he or she views political parties, candidates, and ideals. Some conservative people tend to vote to Republican, while some people tend to vote Democratic. Voters have their own political attitudes, and these attitudes determine how society goes, whom they are voting for, and what kind of political parties they are supporting. Many elements have the ability to contribute the political attitudes, such as family, gender, education, income, religion, age, race, and etc. According to Ginsberg et al., the first place where people start forming their beliefs on politics is their families and society (148). This idea explains the reason some areas in the U.S. have more Democratic representatives while others have the majority of their residents being Republicans. The fact that most people possess these ideals means that in the event that the candidates in a ballot do not have the qualities that a particular group of voters is looking for, these voters will not partake in voting. When the impact of race in political socialization is factored in, it becomes increasingly evident that some people of one race are unlikely to spend their time voting for a candidate who does not represent their beliefs pertaining to racial issues. For instance, African Americans’ perception of the extent of racism is different from that of whites. This has a significant bearing on the motivation of voters from each divide to participate in an election (Ginsberg et al.

Within the political world, education is a major factor in whether or not someone votes. According to the table, the higher someone’s education level, the more likely they are to vote in an election. For example, the survey shows that 64% of those with a high school education voted, while 85% of those with a college degree voted. In addition, other factors affect one’s likelihood to vote, such as gender. Historically, women are more likely to vote in election than men are.

Moreover, political socialization contributes into the deciding factor if people will vote. Political socialization is “the process through which underlying political beliefs and values are formed” (5.2). Everyday we, the people, get political messages from either family, our peers, in school, etc. Obviously, most of our influence would come from our family and friends; hence if the people around us are not involved with politics, that can decrease the chance of the person not voting or getting into politics. Whereas...

People within higher economic status are more likely to be politically active due to their work experience, social position, occupation, and education. All of these reasons are intertwined into the voter’s economic status. The voter’s political position within their community makes them more likely to be involved within politics. Work experience reflects a person's education; the better educated a person is the higher a person’s income is. In addition, a person's occupation establishes the voter within their economic category. A person social position is reflected by a person's income and position within their community.

Political socialization, as Steffen W. Schmidt has said, is a ' process by which people acquire political beliefs and values(Steffen, Mack, Barbara, American Government and Politics Today, Page117). Americans are very willing to discuss and express their political opinions when they are asked. But how do they get these general political attitudes or political beliefs? In this essay, I will enumerate several ways, like family, education, mass media and religion, to explain how Americans get their political beliefs.

Many political science researchers study the forces that drive the vote. One of the earliest, and most well known, books about election studies is The American Voter. Written in 1960, the book tries to explain a model that describes what drives Americans to vote the way they do. The model suggests that social factors determine ones party identification, which determines one's issue positions and evaluation of candidate's characteristics. These forces all work together to determine how one will vote. This model may or may not still hold true today, as political researchers are not in agreement as to what exactly drives the vote. One thing that does remain true, however, is that factors such as social groups, party identification, issues,