2.1 Political Socialization and Political Parties-Learning Objectives and Chapter Summaries

 Political Socialization

Chapter Overview

 Learning Objectives

  1. Trace the development of modern public opinion research


  2. Describe the methods for conducting and analyzing different types of public opinion polls

  3. Assess the potential shortcomings of polling


  4. Analyze the process by which people form political opinions


  5. Evaluate the effects of public opinion on politics

 

 

Chapter Summary


Public opinion is “what the people think about an issue or set of issues at any given point in time,” and opinions are normally measured by opinion polls. Polls are interviews or surveys of a sample of citizens (it is too expensive and time-consuming to ask everyone!) used to estimate how the public feels about an issue or set of issues.

 

 

 

Political Parties

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Trace the evolution of the two-party system in the United States


Outline the structure of American political parties at the national, state, and local levels

Identify the functions performed by American political parties


Analyze how political socialization and group affiliations shape party identification

Evaluate the role of minor parties in the American two-party system


Explain why the two major American political parties continue to endure

 

Chapter Summary


What Is a Political Party?

At the most basic level, a political party is a group of office holders, candidates, activists, and voters who identify with a group label and seek to elect to public office individuals who run under that label. This is a practical definition in keeping with the practical nature of American politics. Our parties tend not to be as ideological as parties in other countries. Ours is a centrist party system.

Our system contains two major parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Parties create platforms on which to run. Basically, a party’s platform states its main issue positions and ideology. There is often a debate about how important platforms actually are to people and the parties to which they belong. In the 2004 presidential race, they seemed to accurately characterize the positions of the presidential candidates and the national party

We also have a number of minor or third parties at any given time. Among the more important third parties today are the Reform Party and the Libertarian Party.

Parties are made up of three types of “members”—

  •  governmental party: the office holders and candidates 


  •  organizational party: workers and activists 


  •  party-in-the-electorate: those who vote for the party or consider themselves to be 
allied or associated with it.