Issue Positions & Group Differences Flashcards
Americans are ______ and ______
Americans are ideologically conservative and programmatically liberal.
Ideological conservatism
opposed to the government.
Programmatic liberalism
supportive of government programs.
Harry and Louise ads, 1993
series of ads promoting the security of universal healthcare. The Clintons ended up coming up with a sit responding to the ads
What did Obamacare consist of?
- Universal coverage
- self-financing
- Cost controls
- Individual mandate
- Regulation of insurance companies
- Public option (eventually dropped)
Measuring Attitudes on Racial Issues
Principle: these questions ask respondents whether they support the broad principles of racial nondiscrimination and desegregation
Implementation: these questions deal with steps the government must take to achieve the principles of nondiscrimination or desegregation or to improve the economic status of blacks.
Social Distance: these questions ask respondents how they would react in particular situations that require some degree of integration at a personal level.
Given an Example of the Implementation Gap
1972: 97% of white respondents state that black people should have as good a chance as white people to get any kind of job. But only 39% state that the government should see to it that black people get fair treatment in jobs.
Possible Explanations for the “Implementation Gap”
Self-Interest
Symbolic Racism (or Racial Resentment)
Ethic of Individualism (Ideology)
“hard” vs “soft” news
hard= factual
soft= entertainment
What is: Support Dobbs Decision (June 2023)
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in this case on June 24, 2022, taking away the constitutional right to abortion, abandoning almost 50 years of precedent, and paving the way for states to ban abortion.
How to Characterize Public Opinion on Abortion
- depends on the gender giving their opinion
- most Americans hold both pro-choice and pro-life opinions
- Until Dobbs, abortion was not a particularly salient issue for most voters.
Public Opinion on Foreign Policy
- the public is not interested in this most of the time
- opinions tend to be shallow
- Americans tend to be internationalist
- opposes military interventions before they occur
Opinions of Foreign Aid
Americans consistently believe foreign aid is about 25% of the federal budget.
When asked how much it should be, they say about 10%.
In FY 2019, foreign aid is less than 1% of the federal budget.
what is the implementation gap?
The implementation gap is the difference between goals and outputs on paper and how they are carried out in practice.
