Charisse Romero

June 25, 2010

POS 105-752
Unit 2, Ch. 7

What is political culture and how does it differ from public opinion?

Political culture is the way particular groups in society form their political viewpoint.
This is based on their background, their financial situation, their morals, and beliefs. I added
financial situation because I think political culture groups can also be divided by finances.
Political culture differs from public opinion because it relies on the general attitude a particular
society has. Public opinion seeks to find trackable data that will provide real answers to current
questions (Roskins 117).

Until recently, public culture did not appear to change abruptly. This is unlike public
opinions. For instance, the community that resides in Montbello, Colorado is African American,
in general. The people of this community almost always vote democrat. This is part of their
political culture. The people of this area generally tend to agree with most of the stances that
democrats favor. This is not only true for African Americans, but also for many other people of
different backgrounds. The 2000 U.S. Census shows us that Hispanics and Asian-Pacifics
typically vote democrat as well. This continuing trend creates a political culture with similar
views within our society. Whereas, one may ask how you think the President is doing. Anyone,
although they are of a particular political culture or party, may say what they are thinking about
the President currently. That is a piece of trackable data, public opinion. It may just be part of a
certain issue or a period of time, but doesn’t change the person’s culture.

Another example of public culture can be seen in different financial situations. The
upper-class tend to vote republican more often than the lower and middle classes. This is, in
short, because republican favor the wealthy more so than the lower classes. In history, the
republicans have given more tax breaks and other cuts to the republicans. While the lower
classes do not typically receive these types of breaks.

Another political culture group are people who identify themselves as homosexual or in
support of them. This group typically favors the democratic party as well because they are in
support of gay marriage. More liberal countries across the globe already have legalized this.
Democratic parties and this political culture see this as being a ban on human freedom and
inequality. Historically, there are more supporters of individual freedoms within minority
political groups because they were not traditionally given them. This is also true with wealthier
families, which tend to pass on their wealth and political culture.

References

Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, & Jones (2003). Political Science, An Introduction (9th edition). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall