Introduction

Enduring Knowledge: Public opinion, which is essential to the political process in our democracy, is significantly impacted by the media.

Complete 8.03 Public Opinion and Polls as you go through the lesson. You will submit your completed work at the end of the lesson.

Have you ever heard the expression "jumping on the bandwagon"? The idea of jumping on the bandwagon basically describes the concept of people supporting something because everyone else is doing it and they don't want to be left out of the popular choice. A form of peer pressure much like what you face nearly every day is involved in jumping on the bandwagon or going along with the popular crowd. For example, it seems "everybody" has a facebook, Instagram, or twitter account and no one wants to be left out.

So, public opinion matters. No matter how much we would like to believe we are independent thinkers and do not care what others prefer, in the end, we do care what others think. We hear phrases like, "polls show..." or "nine out of ten people recommend..." used all the time in our society. We choose everything from our preferred toothpaste or favorite movie, to who will be our next leader based on what the "public" thinks. The news, advertisements, even our entertainment outlets are constantly bombarding us with information about public opinion. In addition, with nearly every purchase we make by phone, via internet, or even in a restaurant, someone tries to collect information on your opinion concerning the service you received or the product you purchased. Even the pictures and comments we post on social media collect information for us regarding who likes or dislikes our posts.

If a large proportion of society is talking about a certain political or social issue, the government is more likely to pay attention and take action on that issue. This lesson will explore how public opinion can shape public policy and how it can be influenced by the media. You will also learn about the role media plays in influencing public opinion and impacting the political process.

 

Lesson Objectives

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • define public opinion.
  • identify the types of polls that measure public opinion.
  • explain how public opinion varies in different regions throughout the United States.
  • identify changes in the media and media outlets in the United States. (remove/move to 8.04).
  • explain how media has been used by officials to impact politics including party press, penny press, print media, yellow journalism, and radio.

The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: Government objective(s): 9, 9.1.

This lesson incorporates the following Literacy Standards: R1, R2, R4, R7, W2, W3, W4, and W9.
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