Chapter 6: Public Opinion

1.      Is American news media too dependent upon polls? Is it appropriate for news agencies to create polls and then report on them? Why or why not?

I think it is important for news agencies to create polls because it gives politicians and their agencies more insight on public opinion. I didn’t realize, however, just how many polls there are. After looking at the CNN link, I was amazed on how many specific questions were being asked. It seems like even though polling is a good thing and it allows the public to express their opinion, there are a lot of questions that seem irrevelent. Also, because most of these polls are conducted on the internet, most of the time people aren’t going to take the time to do them unless the topic is something they either feel extremely strongly or extremely negatively about. Another issue with news agencies reporting on their own polls lies in how they word their questions. Networks that reach out to people with specific views will word their surveys in ways that could sway a person to answer a certain way, which could offset results.

2. How important is political party identification to you (e.g. as a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, etc.)? Was it more or less important to your parents & grandparents? Does it seem more or less important to your friends? Why or why not?

I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but party identification is not very important to me whatsoever. After reading this chapter and thinking about it, it makes sense to me though. I read that children are two-thirds more likely to identify as the same political party as their parents. Throughout my life, neither my parents nor my grandparents have shown very much interest in politics. I haven’t grown up in a family with very much money, so when I was growing up my parents were more interested in what was going on in their jobs and in our little town than what was happening on a state or national level. My friends seem to be a LOT more interested in politics than I am, but most of my friends come from families that have a lot more money than mine does. Also, most of their parents have college-level educations, where both of my parents stopped at high school. Based solely on my own life, I would say that income and education play major roles in political party identification.



 3. Do you feel that you opinion of politics is more influenced by economic issues or by social issues? Why?

My opinion of politics is definitely more influenced by economic issues. Growing up in a family where the biggest issue was money and wondering how bills were going to get paid, it is important to me that our economy prospers. For example I only work about 25 hours a week, but the little money I do make goes to help support my family. If the economy is doing badly and people are cutting what they are spending in the store I work at, then because of that my hours may be pushed back to 15 or 20. To some people that wouldn’t be a big deal, but for myself and my family that could mean a lot. Social issues are not as prominent in my life because they don’t affect me nearly as much as they do some. To me, most social issues are more based on beliefs rather than what is going on in my actual life so even though they are important, they are kind of just background noise in my life.