Web Explorations

To learn more about the Gallup Organization and poll trends, see http://www.gallup.com/

1. Examine the home page. What is the current topic that dominates polling questions?
2. How does the Gallup organization conduct their polls?
3. What is your opinion of polling data? Has it ever influenced your opinion of a particular issue? Have you ever participated in polling?

To use NES data sets, www.umich.edu/~nes

1. Click on "study and data resources". Click down and then click on any of the "NES" studies. Then click on "questionnaire". Examine the questions asked in the study and comment upon them. Are the questions clear and unambiguous? Does the questionnaire anticipate all possible responses? Are there any questions that you believe could be improved? How?

For the most recent Roper Center polls, see http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/.

1. Examine “What’s New.” What are some of the current topics of Roper Center polls?
2. Examine “About the Center.” When and why was the Roper Center founded? What is the connection between Roper and Gallup?

To test your own political knowledge, see the "Theatre Metaphor" below in Background section and answer the questions that follow.

Background: American Political Knowledge: The Theater Metaphor

The essence of democracy is that the public's interests and values are reflected in the outcome of the policy making process. Recognizing this, elected officials and government agencies spend millions of dollars every year "taking the pulse" of the American public. Hundreds of individuals spend countless hours measuring public opinion in order to formulate policy proposals that reflect the interests of citizens. One would hope that citizens would be well informed about public policy proposals since their opinions shape the outcome of the policy making process.

However, many Americans lack a basic understanding of how the government operates. An even greater proportion of Americans have difficulty expressing the possible implications of any given policy proposal for social or economic conditions of the nation. In the following exercise you will be asked to test your political knowledge. In addition, you will have a chance to determine whether you are informed about how the government operates and some contemporary policy issues. Remember, good public policy is related a well-informed public: without every citizen taking the time to become informed, poor public policy may prevail.

One way of understanding Americans' level of political knowledge is by using the "theater metaphor." The metaphor suggests that there are four distinct levels of public knowledge about American government and politics, where the closer one is seated to the stage, the more knowledge one is likely to possess. In the metaphor, the "stage" represents political actors; the "front row" represents highly informed "opinion leaders;" the "middle row" represents the "informed public;" the "back row" represents the "uninformed public;" and the "balcony" represents the "politically clueless." Each of these groups are characterized by a different socioeconomic status, and each group utilizes different sources of information for different purposes.

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The Stage

Opinion Leaders In the Theater

The front rows of the theater are usually occupied by season ticket holders. Since season tickets to the theater are generally expensive, these people are most often wealthy elites. If they are not wealthy, then they are usually theater "junkies" who study the theater closely or work in the entertainment industry and personally know some of the actors. From the front rows they have the opportunity to glimpse behind the curtain and see what is happening behind the stage. The close proximity of season ticket holders to the stage allow them to recognize if actors in the play are nervous, forget their lines or are improvising. In sum, individuals in the front rows of any theater have a great view of the play and follow the plot very closely.

In the Political Theater

In the political theater, the front rows are occupied by individuals who never miss a performance. They stay up late at night watching CSPAN, CNN, MSNBC, and get up early on Sunday mornings to see programs such as "Meet the Press" or "This Week in Washington." These people are political "junkies" who know a great deal about the political actors performing on the stage. They may know some of the actors and supplement the information that they receive from them with what they read in The Washington Post, New York Times, or other national newspapers. They also receive information about political issues and events from National Public Radio. Like the season ticket holders who attend the theater, these political "junkies" can glimpse the events that occur behind the curtain and they are able to recognize when one political actor is challenging another or offering an olive twig with the hope of reconciliation. These individuals are called "opinion leaders" because other members of the audience look to them for advice, explanation, or help with understanding political events and issues.

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Informed Public

In the Theater

In the middle rows of any theater you will often find members of upper-middle class. These individuals enjoy the theater, but they are not as enthusiastic as individuals in the front rows. They probably attend the theater fairly regularly and have ability to recognize the actors who are playing the various characters on the stage. Since they frequent the theater, they may even form friendships with the season ticket holders in the front rows.

These friendships come in handy if, for some reason, they miss a line or are distracted from the play for a period of time. In these cases, the individuals in the middle row may tap their front row friends on the shoulder during the intermission and ask them what they missed. While they may recognize all of the actors in the play, their proximity to the stage prevents them from determining when an actor is nervous or when one forgets a line.

In the Political Theater

In the political theater, individuals in the middle rows are generally members of the upper-middle class. They regularly attend the theater by reading such weekly magazines as TIME and Newsweek. While they follow political events and issues fairly closely, they obtain most of their information from news programs such as "World News Tonight" or other, half-hour network news programs. If they happen to get up early on Sunday morning they may watch "Meet the Press" or "This Week in Washington," but they do not set their alarms. Because they are socially and economically similar to individuals in the front row, they may have conversations with them about political subjects and have access to them for advise. While individuals in the middle row are informed, they are not the political junkies found in the front row.

Uniformed Public

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In the Theater

In the back rows of most theaters are found individuals who cannot afford expensive tickets. They do not attend the theater regularly, and may go to see a play only when their friends have suggested that they do so. Even then, the people in the back row only make a concerted effort to attend the theater on special occasions. Because of the lack of attendance, individuals in the back rows only recognize the most famous actors, and know little about their professional lives prior to the part that they are currently playing. They also have seats with poor views so they regularly miss lines, have trouble following the plot, or miss the subtle movements of the actors. While they may know some individuals in the middle rows they have not developed friendships with individuals in the front rows. Because of this, if they are lucky they may find an acquaintance during intermission from the middle rows who can provide some commentary on the play's plot or characters.

In the Political Theater

In the back row of the political theater is found the "uninformed public." These individuals are generally members of the lower-middle or working class. Of all of the political actors, the uninformed public is only able to recognize the most visible individuals, such as the President, Speaker of the House or the Vice President. Their only source of news is local newspapers or local television news programs. The only time they will regularly attend the political theater is during a time of crisis, where a war, disaster, or sensational event is in the headlines. Its likely that these people were very informed about the "Monica Lewinsky Scandal," but disengaged from politics once the issue left the headlines. Generally speaking, these individuals do not care enough about national or international political issues to become informed.

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Politically Clueless

In the Theater

In some theaters may be found a large balcony located a great distance from the stage. In this balcony may be found the cheapest seats in the house. Because of this, the balcony offers a great place for younger individuals to socialize and enjoy themselves. Rather than watch the play, individuals in the balcony will often throw popcorn or candy over the edge and onto the heads of individuals seated in the back and middle rows. The view of the stage is absolutely horrible. Even if an individual seated in the balcony was capable of recognizing the actors on the stage, it unlikely that they would have the view necessary to do so. These individuals rarely attend the theater but when they do, they pay close attention to the love or war scenes scattered throughout the play.

In the Political Theater

In the political theater, the balcony is the home of the politically clueless. These individuals rarely attend the political theater, so they have very little idea of how government works or the important issues that are currently being debated. If they read the newspaper or watch the news, they will pay attention only to reports related to sports or the advertisements. Occasionally they will watch or read about national or international events if they are sensational, but for the most part they would rather be doing anything other than following politics. These individuals may not know the Governor of their state, and may have trouble identifying the Vice President of the United States. The politically clueless tend to be members of the lowest socioeconomic category.

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1. What are the similarities between individuals in the front row and individuals in the middle row?
2. What may account for different levels of political knowledge in American society?
3. To what extent does public opinion about political issues effect policy outcomes? When measuring public opinion, do pollsters make any attempt to distinguish between opinions that emanate from informed (front row) and uninformed (back row and balcony) individuals?
4. Should public opinion emanating from the back row and the balcony have any effect on the formulation of public policy?
5. What factors may account for a lack of political knowledge among citizens of a democracy? It may be helpful to review the characteristics of individuals in the front row, middle row, back row, and balcony.

To see an example of a nonstratified poll, go to http://www.cnn.com.

1. Locate the online poll. Examine it. What are the strengths and weaknesses of online polling?
2. Which demographic groups are likely to be excluded from on-line, nonstatified polling? What are the political implications of this exclusion?
3. Do you believe that the large sample obtained by on-line polling provides it with increased reliability, or is a stratified sample more likely to capture the opinions of the American public?