4.1: Introduction

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Preamble of the US Constitution (public domain; Bluszczokrzew via Wikimedia)

Learning Objectives

• To consider the appropriate role of public opinion in the political system.
• To analyze how to study California public opinion.
• To survey the opinions and ideologies of Californians and consider theories about their origins.

Introduction

In a constitutional democracy, we expect the people to occupy the center of the political stage. We make our demands, the government listens, and public policy changes. Yet, as you know from the study of the US Constitution, our system shields much of government from the people because the Framers feared that too much popular involvement might result in mob rule. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, the public’s role in political affairs grew. Voting rights were dramatically extended multiple times. The Seventeenth Amendment of the US Constitution (1913) allowed for the direct election of Senators. In California, the Progressives argued that greater involvement in politics by the people is an important check on potential government corruption, so the California Constitution was amended to include tools of direct democracy.

While in this country, public opinion provides the foundation for constitutional democracy, in other countries, dictators have often manipulated public opinion for their own purposes. Americans have also worried that they may also be manipulated by many forces of modern-day mass society, such as the media, political parties, or big business. Attitudes about the proper role of public opinion often depend on whether we believe the public is wise and well-informed enough to make good decisions.

In this chapter, let’s first develop our positions regarding the actual role of public opinion in our political system and our beliefs about what role it should ideally have. Several quotations will help you better understand your thinking. Then, after considering how to study public opinion, let’s characterize Californians’ public opinion and ideologies. Finally, we will examine how the origins of public opinion are studied.