Andrew Phan

Girard, 4
10/6/15
Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Socialization
Public opinions are opinions held by citizens that are openly expressed. Patterson
explains that while a government decision does not necessarily conform to the public opinion,
governments may make decisions that move towards the public opinion; he is saying that public
opinions have some degree of influence on government decisions, but not as much as people
may think. Patterson brings up a point to support this; he mentions that very rarely do most
topics get a majority vote; in these cases, the government instead tries to satisfy elitist and
pluralist groups that are more involved with the issue. For example, while most citizens would
be uninterested in farmers subsidies, farmers would gladly vote to support further subsidizing.
However, he does bring up the point that a well-organized poll can accurately predict election
results or other political results for more broad issues. Patterson makes another point that
citizens political opinions are often developed at a young age, and are held strongly throughout
peoples lives. He supports this by describing early-life influences on childrens ideology.
Schoolteachers describing the efforts of the Founding Fathers to raise this country would lead to
children admiring America even more. This does not prevent them from changing later on,
however; it just starts children off in America with a set mindset. Citizens also often organize
themselves into groups based off of religion, race, gender, income, etc., where the entire group
as a whole may support a general topic; for example, low-income citizens may band together to
support increased welfare. He makes a final comment that while public opinion does not directly
influence government decisions, it does constrain the governments decisions to choices that
are deemed reasonable by the citizens.
I agree with Pattersons claim that the public opinion does not necessarily control
government decisions. The government often acts as a regulating tool to keep the people in
check, as much as the people keep the government in check. There is a balance between the
people and the government so that while the people may argue for certain issues, the
government complies to these desires but only to a certain extent; this is like a kind of
negotiation. The government still has the final say, but must make a decision acceptable enough
that the people do not rage.
I disagree with Pattersons claim that peoples ideology can be stubborn to change. I
believe that in this time and era, with how quickly issues can develop and change and resolve
themselves, the citizens ideology is no longer able to be kept stubborn. People must accept
change, because society is progressing at a fast pace at the present. The things taught by
parents, schools, and peers will change over time, some ideals losing relevance as society
changes. Also, I believe that people are only reluctant to accept change because they are
reluctant to reject their opinion on an issue; this would seem as if they were admitting wrong.
However, there is no wrong in holding an opinion.
Q: Where do you guys think Americas population stands as a majority? Are we more liberal?
Conservative? Libertarian? Populist?
Q: What groups do you believe people align themselves to over other groups?

Andrew Phan
Girard, 4
10/6/15
Q: How accurate do you believe political polls are, as only some Americans are surveyed?