In democracy, public opinion is very important for politicians because citizens are the ones who elect their office representatives, at the same time citizens have to act together to solve collective action problems. Polls express citizens’ public opinion that government pays attention and mobilize their campaigns around these opinions. However, a person has a combination of different beliefs, feelings and behavior about politics based on information and knowledge that has been acquired throughout different sources. Also, how consistent and strong are these attitudes vary by person. In addition, at individual level opinion on certain issues, evaluations of candidates, campaigns, and parties are based on five different factors. Two of these main factors are Political Socialization and Framing. Political socialization starts early in life, but it continues during adulthood, and it changed based on direct or indirect experiences. Framing can affect citizens’ opinions about politics, which also reflect ambivalence or lack of knowledge. Political socialization is one of the factors that influences the formation of individuals’ opinions. Political Socialization is the learning process of acquiring political beliefs throughout life from varies of sources. People learn information staring from their childhood and young adulthood. Family is one of the primary influences. It depends how a kid is raised. For example, if a family is constantly talking about politics at home, the kid is more likely to adopt his/her family political values and views. The school is also another important source of children’s development because at school kids study American history, learn about the constitution, and the pledge religion. All this information teaches individuals about the Unites States’ government and how things work at the white house. In addition, friends, peers, coworkers and teachers who have different opinions have an effect on others’ attitudes. News media, like entertaining political program exposes citizens to new ideas and believes in different extents. Then again, new experiences and information can change people’s attitudes towards politics at any times of their lives. Personal experiences can change some one’s view about politics depending on what the individual needs.
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However, personal experiences do not dominate or completely shape their political opinions. Citizens can only achieve political goals only throughout collective actions because government tends to pay attention to the majority. For example, during the great depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal helped a large amount of people. Roosevelt planned series of domestic programs to end the depression. It tried to recover the nation’s economy, to relieve the unemployed people, and to reform the financial system. The New Deal was one of the causes of the realignment, it influenced many people to change their political parties and support the Democratic Party. This event has influenced indirectly political views for generations. Families’ point of view and believes influenced the younger generations, as well as politicians, the media, historians, famous people or interpreter events. Another important factor that influence the formation of individuals’ opinions is framing. Framing presents information about our political candidates, campaigns and issues our nation is currently experiencing. Even though, framing does not change the original information, it can affect citizens’ opinions because of the wording of questions, or how questions are asked and how the information is presented. Due to framing, sometimes surveys are not an accurate form of measure how people are feeling, thinking or reacting to political issues or events. When citizens are not well informed or educated about certain issues, framing can change the expression of opinions easily because people can have mix feeling, unstable opinion, and views that can be manipulated easily, which is a reflection of ambivalence. Individuals’ opinions are influenced by concerns and information that are frequently present by the media. Politicians often attempt to frame issues in other to benefit them, and Media is also a big influence in public opinion because we are constantly exposed to different type of propagandas. News, TV, the Internet are different sources available to get information. These sources for communication can be biased and frame issues differently, by highlighting certain information and hiding other issues. Also, they can talk more about a specific political candidate, and about the campaign they support. For example, during Barack Obama’s campaign.
However, personal experiences do not dominate or completely shape their political opinions. Citizens can only achieve political goals only throughout collective actions because government tends to pay attention to the majority. For example, during the great depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal helped a large amount of people. Roosevelt planned series of domestic programs to end the depression. It tried to recover the nation’s economy, to relieve the unemployed people, and to reform the financial system. The New Deal was one of the causes of the realignment, it influenced many people to change their political parties and support the Democratic Party. This event has influenced indirectly political views for generations. Families’ point of view and believes influenced the younger generations, as well as politicians, the media, historians, famous people or interpreter events. Another important factor that influence the formation of individuals’ opinions is framing. Framing presents information about our political candidates, campaigns and issues our nation is currently experiencing. Even though, framing does not change the original information, it can affect citizens’ opinions because of the wording of questions, or how questions are asked and how the information is presented. Due to framing, sometimes surveys are not an accurate form of measure how people are feeling, thinking or reacting to political issues or events. When citizens are not well informed or educated about certain issues, framing can change the expression of opinions easily because people can have mix feeling, unstable opinion, and views that can be manipulated easily, which is a reflection of ambivalence. Individuals’ opinions are influenced by concerns and information that are frequently present by the media. Politicians often attempt to frame issues in other to benefit them, and Media is also a big influence in public opinion because we are constantly exposed to different type of propagandas. News, TV, the Internet are different sources available to get information. These sources for communication can be biased and frame issues differently, by highlighting certain information and hiding other issues. Also, they can talk more about a specific political candidate, and about the campaign they support. For example, during Barack Obama’s campaign.