Political scienceLesson 2 of 2 in the course Political Participation and Public Opinion

How Public Opinion Forms: Groups, Ideology, Opinion Leaders, and Media

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Public opinion helps elected officials understand what people think about public issues. This lesson defines public opinion and distinguishes majority opinion, issue publics, and elite opinion.

Public opinion is the aggregation of individual views that represent people’s feelings about an issue at a particular point in time. It can also refer to the views ordinary citizens are willing to express openly. Not everyone has an opinion about every topic, and people may change their views as circumstances or information change.

All flashcards

Public opinion
The aggregation of expressed individual views about an issue at a particular time.
Poll snapshot
A measure of how respondents felt when a poll was conducted.
Issue public
A smaller group especially attentive to a particular issue.
Political socialization
The process of learning or adapting to the values and expectations of associated groups.
Opinion leader
A person whose views others value and who can influence their thinking about public issues.

Quiz questions

  1. What does majority opinion mean in the context of a survey?Answer: A view shared by more than half of those surveyed on a particular question.
  2. A small group closely follows agricultural subsidies, while many other people pay little attention to the issue. What best describes that group?Answer: An issue public especially attentive to a particular topic.
  3. What is elite opinion?Answer: Views held by influential business, political, and cultural groups.
  4. What does political ideology provide?Answer: A framework of beliefs for interpreting government and policy issues.
  5. In political news, what is framing?Answer: Presenting an issue in a way that emphasizes particular details or interpretations.

Based on Introduction to Political Science by Mark Carl Rom, Masaki Hidaka, Rachel Bzostek Walker (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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