“Ugh, politics.” is a normal response to get from many people when the topic is brought up in conversation. Everywhere we look, it seems like the vast majority of people not only avoid putting much thought into politics, but also try to avoid talking about it altogether, as if it were some sort of taboo. At the same time however, if you can get the ball rolling in one of these conversations, it won’t be long before you find out that people have both deeply held beliefs that seem to be very deeply rooted in them, as well as more fluid beliefs that are more vulnerable to criticism and change. These are two different types of public opinions that people can form about politics, and the public opinions that people hold are essential in maintaining
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The first type of public opinion that we are going to examine is known as liberal-conservative ideology. When we think about the average US citizen and their opinion of politics and public policy, one of the first things we might do is try to classify them as a conservative or a liberal in order to understand what types of beliefs they have and why they have them. Liberal-conservative ideology is a method of describing the position of a persons’ public opinion on a spectrum that ranges from liberal on the far left to conservative on the far right, and moderates in the middle. Although people are spread across the spectrum, most will still claim to have at least a slight preference toward either the liberal or conservative side while maintaining an air of moderateness . This type of public opinion tends to be much more stable over time because these affiliations are very deeply held beliefs that have developed over a long time and therefore are harder to change. Political socialization is the most significant factor that plays into the …show more content…
Latent opinions are opinions that are formed on the spot when they are necessary. For most Americans, all of their opinions are latent opinions and therefore are only formed when people are directly questioned about certain opinions or beliefs that they hold. On-line processing is one significant factor that contributes to the formation of latent opinions while stemming from the more concrete opinions formed through liberal-conservative ideology. In on-line processing a person has a developed preference for a political candidate, party, or policy, but does not remember how the preference originally formed. For this reason, when questioned about said opinions, the person in question is forced to think of justifications on the spot to defend their belief. These on-the-spot justifications are formed out of considerations of whatever information is relevant to the situation, such as religious beliefs, ideologies, party affiliations, and any other pieces of information that someone believes is relevant to forming an argument/defense for their opinion. Latent opinions are much more subject to alterations and change than liberal-conservative ideologies as well. New pieces of information and considerations can lead people to modify their currently held opinions, sometimes completely changing them. Politicians and political actors play an important role in latent opinion development because
The first type of public opinion that we are going to examine is known as liberal-conservative ideology. When we think about the average US citizen and their opinion of politics and public policy, one of the first things we might do is try to classify them as a conservative or a liberal in order to understand what types of beliefs they have and why they have them. Liberal-conservative ideology is a method of describing the position of a persons’ public opinion on a spectrum that ranges from liberal on the far left to conservative on the far right, and moderates in the middle. Although people are spread across the spectrum, most will still claim to have at least a slight preference toward either the liberal or conservative side while maintaining an air of moderateness . This type of public opinion tends to be much more stable over time because these affiliations are very deeply held beliefs that have developed over a long time and therefore are harder to change. Political socialization is the most significant factor that plays into the …show more content…
Latent opinions are opinions that are formed on the spot when they are necessary. For most Americans, all of their opinions are latent opinions and therefore are only formed when people are directly questioned about certain opinions or beliefs that they hold. On-line processing is one significant factor that contributes to the formation of latent opinions while stemming from the more concrete opinions formed through liberal-conservative ideology. In on-line processing a person has a developed preference for a political candidate, party, or policy, but does not remember how the preference originally formed. For this reason, when questioned about said opinions, the person in question is forced to think of justifications on the spot to defend their belief. These on-the-spot justifications are formed out of considerations of whatever information is relevant to the situation, such as religious beliefs, ideologies, party affiliations, and any other pieces of information that someone believes is relevant to forming an argument/defense for their opinion. Latent opinions are much more subject to alterations and change than liberal-conservative ideologies as well. New pieces of information and considerations can lead people to modify their currently held opinions, sometimes completely changing them. Politicians and political actors play an important role in latent opinion development because