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Public Opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individuals’ expressed beliefs and preferences about public issues. These views play a critical role in democratic governance and cover a range of topics, such as political candidates and figures, political events, public policies, partisanship, and ideology. This entry offers a brief introduction to research on public opinion, focusing on how it forms and changes, issues with its measurement, and its importance in democratic policy making.
Opinion Formation
Several factors influence individuals’ opinions about public affairs, including self-interest, deeply seated values, feelings toward social groups, the social context, and even individual differences in cognitive style, personality, and genetics. These factors affect people’s underlying beliefs and how they direct their attention. People begin to develop political attitudes in childhood, adopting the beliefs and ...
- Cognitive Processes
- Attribution Theory
- Closure, Need for
- Collective Action
- Confirmation Bias
- Decision Making
- Hearts and Minds Approach
- Images and Theory in International Relations
- Insurgency
- Locus of Control
- Moral Dilemmas
- Morality and Politics
- Political Morality
- Political Plasticity
- Prejudice
- Risky Shift
- Routes to Persuasion, Central and Peripheral
- Self-Categorization Theory
- Significance, Need for
- Similarity-Attraction
- Social Categories
- Social Cognition
- Source Bias
- Stereotypes
- Symbolic Racism
- Tolerance for Ambiguity
- Group Identities and Influence
- Activism
- Aggressive Capitulation
- Agonism
- American Exceptionalism
- Assimilation
- Civil Disobedience
- Conflicts, Protracted
- Conformity
- Death of Leaders
- Deviance and Control
- Egocentrism
- Ethnic Revival
- Ethnicity
- Ethnocentrism
- Feminism
- First Ladies
- Gender Bias
- Genetic Essentialism
- Genocide
- Group Ideologies
- Groupthink
- Identity Politics
- Intractable Conflicts
- Mass Political Behavior
- Mutual Radicalization
- National Character
- Nationalism
- Nonviolence
- Obedience
- Patriotism
- Political Plasticity
- Political Psychologies of Terrorism
- Pressure Groups
- Race and Ethnicity
- Slavery in America
- Social Class
- Social Networking
- Social Stratification and Inequality
- Sociobiology
- Values and Politics
- Women and Leadership
- Individual Political Behavior
- Attitudes
- Authoritarian Personality
- Authoritarianism
- Barber’s Typology of Presidential Character
- Bully Pulpit
- Charisma
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Cyberactivism
- Economics and Political Behavior
- Emotions and Voting
- False Consciousness
- Followership and Personality
- F-Scale
- Greenstein’s Six Components of Presidential Leadership
- Irrationality
- Lone Wolf Terrorism
- Machiavellianism
- Military Action
- Narcissism
- Narcissistic Personality Inventory
- Neustadt’s Theory of Presidential Power
- Optimal Distinctiveness Theory
- Parental Worldview and Children
- Patrimonialism
- Political Plasticity
- Powerlessness
- Praetorianism
- Psychobiography
- Psychodynamic Theory
- Saber Rattling
- Self-Esteem
- Selfish Gene
- Sultanism
- Values and Politics
- International/Comparative Perspectives
- Allegiances
- Bandwagoning State
- Calculus of Dissent
- Civic Engagement
- Civil Wars
- Civilian Intervention
- Dependency Theory
- Economic Judgment
- Ecopolitics
- Energy Competition
- European Union
- Free Market
- Globalization
- Hegemony
- International Criminal Court
- International Humanitarian Law
- International Security
- Judicial Review
- Language Death
- Migration
- Modernization Theory
- Multilateralism
- National Language
- Non-Aligned Nations
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Political Crimes
- Poverty Trap
- Rentier State
- Rent-Seeking Behavior
- United Nations
- United Nations Security Council
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Justice and Political Behavior
- “Do No Harm” as a Code of Action
- Affirmative Action
- Anti-Semitism
- Biopolitics
- Blaming the Victim
- Command of the Commons
- Corruption
- Discrimination
- Distributive Justice
- Equality of Opportunity
- Equity Theory
- Ethics of Political Behavior
- Free Rider Problem
- Glass Ceiling and Glass Cliff
- Governmentality
- Greed Versus Grievance
- Human Duties
- Human Rights
- Judicial Appointments
- Just War Theory
- Justice Motive
- Moral Hazard
- Political Plasticity
- Procedural Justice
- Profiling
- Public Goods
- Retributive Justice
- Rule of Law
- Stag Hunt
- Tokenism
- Torture
- Tragedy of the Commons
- Utopia
- Media, Discourse, and Communications
- Art in Political Campaigns
- Assassinations/Violence in Politics
- Business in Politics
- Conspiracies
- Cyberactivism
- Cyberwar
- Diplomacy
- Dogmatism
- Hypocrisy Paradigm
- Mass Communication
- Media Framing
- Mediation Skills
- Mission Statements
- Mutual Radicalization
- Name Order
- News, Television
- Personality Traits
- Political Apologies
- Political Campaigns
- Political Candidates, Physical Appearance of
- Political Deliberation
- Political Discourse
- Political Indoctrination
- Political Mandates
- Political Persuasion and Rhetoric
- Political Socialization
- Political Symbolism
- Politics After Tragedy
- Polling
- Print Media
- Propaganda
- Public Opinion
- Source Bias
- Talking Heads and Political Campaigns
- Policies and Political Behavior
- “Spoiler” Effect in Politics
- Caste System
- Citizenship
- Civil-Military Relations
- Counterinsurgency
- Crisis Decision Making and Management
- Defense Planning
- Deterrence and Crime
- Deterrence and International Relations
- Districting
- End to Terrorism, Theories of
- English-Only Movement
- Environmental Skepticism
- Extradition
- Feckless Pluralism
- Hearts and Minds Approach
- Immigration
- Keynesian Economics
- Multiculturalism
- Negative Peace
- Omniculturalism
- Peacemaking
- Positive Peace
- Public Goods
- Reconciliation
- Refugees
- Rentier State
- Rent-Seeking Behavior
- Social Welfare
- State-Sponsored Terror
- Third Party
- Values and Politics
- Political Systems
- Bicameralism
- Bureaucratic Politics
- Bureaucratic Structure
- Capitalism
- Civic and Political Knowledge and Skills
- Clientelism
- Competitive Authoritarianism
- Conservatism
- Corporatism
- Democracy
- Dictatorship
- Direct Versus Indirect Democracy
- Duverger’s Law on Elections
- Election Rigging
- Electoral Systems
- Electoralism
- Fascism
- Hybrid Regimes
- Islam Versus Islamism
- Marxism
- Oligarchy
- Parliamentarism
- Partisanship
- Patriarchy
- Political Ideology
- Presidentialism
- Procedural Versus Substantive Fairness
- Proletariat and Capitalism
- Public Goods
- Representative Democracy
- Socialism and Communism
- Strong President Model
- Term Limits
- Totalitarianism
- Unicameralism
- Security and Terrorism
- al Qaeda
- Asymmetric Warfare
- Drones
- Hostage Taking
- Human Trafficking
- Islamic State
- Maritime Terrorism
- Mutual Radicalization
- Narcoterrorism
- Nuclear Taboo
- Political Psychologies of Terrorism
- Refugees
- State Development
- State-Sponsored Terror
- Terrorism, Theories and Models
- Terrorist Networks
- Transitioning Fragile States
- Wars of Attrition
- Social Political Movements
- Alienation
- Biopolitics
- Brand Identification and Loyalty
- Cyberactivism
- Gerontology, Sociopolitical
- Get-Out-the-Vote Efforts
- Internet Jihadism
- Islam Versus Islamism
- Jihad
- Mutual Radicalization
- Neoliberalism
- Pluralism
- Political Plasticity
- Radicalization
- Ritual in Politics
- Self-Help Ideology
- Social Darwinism
- Social Influence
- Social Movements
- Social Revolts
- Values
- Values and Politics
- Women’s Liberation Movement
- Youth and Political Change
- Theories of Political Behavior
- End of History and the Last Man, The (Fukuyama)
- Absolutism
- Bellicism
- Clash of Civilizations
- Conflict Theory, Realistic
- Contact Theory
- Counter-Elite
- Development, Theories of
- Dominant Power Politics
- Egoistical Relative Deprivation
- Elite Decision Making
- Elite Theory (Pareto)
- End of History Thesis for Corporate Law
- End to Terrorism, Theories of
- Essentialism
- Extended Contact
- Functionalism
- Group Relative Deprivation
- Imagined Contact
- Indoctrination
- Legitimacy, Forms of
- Liberalism
- Malthusian Cycle
- Materialism: Rational and Psychological Perspectives
- Meritocracy
- Nationalism
- New Left
- Pacifism
- Positioning Theory
- Prisoner’s Dilemma
- Realism
- Relative Deprivation Theory
- Resource Mobilization
- Ripeness Theory and Conflict Resolution
- Sleeper Effect
- Social Contract
- Social Dominance Orientation
- Social Dominance Theory
- Social Identity Theory
- Social Investment Theory
- Springboard Model of Dictatorship
- Stability-Instability Paradox
- State-Sponsored Terror
- System Justification
- Terror Management Theory
- Terrorism, Theories and Models
- Transitology
- Veil of Ignorance in Rawlsian Theory
- Voting Behavior, Theories of
- Weber’s Protestant Ethic
- Voting Behavior and Political Campaigns
- Advocacy
- Allocation
- Blue-Dog Democrats
- Civic and Political Knowledge and Skills
- Decision Making
- Disengagement
- Economic-Based Voting Blocs
- Emotions and Political Decision Making
- Emotions and Voting
- Ethnicity-Based Voting Blocs
- Expected-Utility Model
- Framing Effects
- Heuristics
- Hierarchy of Needs
- Implicit Association Test
- Implicit Cognitive Processes and Voting
- Life Cycle Effects
- Lobbying
- Minority Voters
- Motivated Reasoning
- Party Identification
- Party List
- Party Systems
- Political Participation
- Political Plasticity
- Prospect Theory
- Rational Choice
- Religion-Based Voting Blocs
- Religiosity
- Rural Voters
- Social Capital
- Suburban Voters
- Trust
- Urban Voters
- Voter Disenfranchisement
- Voter Identification
- Voter Mobility
- Voting Behavior, Theories of
- Voting, History of
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