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Public Opinion: Crash Course Government and Politics #33

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So today, Craig is finally going to start talking about politics. Now up until this point we've specifically been looking at government - that is answering the questions of who, what, and how in relation to policies. But politics is different in that it looks at why certain policies are made.

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Definition: "the citizens' faith and trust in government and their belief that they can understand and influence political affairs"
People might join an interest group to show their political efficacy. This is the main factor on whether or not people will show up to vote.

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Public opinion may also be gauged with a opinion poll, polls are only accurate if based on a representative sample. A poll's results can even be used to craft bills and polls are often used to help in campaigning.

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Public opinion is a large influence in all legislature. It is about keeping people happy and safe while protecting there rights. Additionally, Legislature wants to help the people that voted them in usually in hopes of reelection. For this reason someone may "leak" information. This means that they spread the idea or possibility of something around to observe the public's reaction. This may single-handedly influence whether or not that action is carried out.

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As technology has become more advanced, people are able to gather more information in a smaller amount of time allowing for more educated decisions. However, there is also biased information that may affect how a candidate comes across or may misconstrue what they were trying to say making it also harder to be sure of the truth about legislature.

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Push poll- A survey that is actually conducted by supporters of a particular candidate and disseminates negative information about an opponent.
Labor union- an organization of wage earners or salaried employees for mutual aid and protection and for dealing collectively with employers
Straw poll- an unofficial vote taken to obtain an indication of the general trend of opinion on a particular issue
Exit poll-a poll taken of a small percentage of voters as they leave the polls, used to forecast the outcome of an election or determine the reasons for voting decisions
Representative sample- a small number of people accurately reflect the members of an entire population
Biased sample-a non-random sample of a population in which all individuals, or instances, were not equally likely to have been selected, it leans in one direction not reflecting true proportion