Chapter One: Political Opinion and American Democracy

lied about a relationship with a White House intern

• Senate began to consider conviction in 1999
• polls showed public approval of the job he was doing remained high (higher than before scandal)
• only public views of his moral character declined
  

STORY??
  1)  nobody challenged the accuracy of public opinion figures

  2)  nobody challenged Rudman's claim of basic authority for the voice of the public

strength of an individuals views on an issue

• views of the individual who had never thought about an issue = those of a person who had a longstanding and passionate view
• "one person, one vote"

in addition to being included in the general public can make their views known other ways:

• writing letters, contacting representitives, working through groups

policy decisions consistent with public preferences 2/3 of the time

• 1980-1999 dropped to 55%
• Monroe (1979) - there is a "definite tendincy for pp to be in accordance with public opinion"
• not a strict correspondance between po and gov action

highly developed public opinion: engaged an issue, considered it from all sides, understood the choices, and accepted the consequences of the choices they make

• not people's top-of-the-head views rather than thoughtful, considered judgements

1. selecting a random sample

2. immersing them in the issues

3. providing carefully balance briefing materials with intensive discussions in small groups and questioning experts

4. polled and considered judgements of the public

means of deriving what the public thinks not "public opinion"

relatively enduring orientations toward objects that provide individuals with mental frameworks for making economical sense of the world

the raw material out of which public opinion develops