On What Issues Do Americans Follow the Leader?

• In Event: Poster Session: Public Opinion & Ideas, Knowledge and Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Public Opinion

Abstract

Political science has determined that political elites are polarized in their opinions on issues. Standard public opinion theory predicts that the more politically sophisticated a person is the more that she should follow the opinion of the elites of her party. But, with many different issues areas, little is known about which issues Americans follow the leader. Do people get all of their opinions from political elites or are some of these opinions coming from other sources, such as childhood upbringing? To answer this question, I construct ideal points for survey respondents in four issues areas: economics (social welfare), race, morality, and immigration. I show that politically aware Americans follow the leader on economic issues but only politically aware Democrats follow the leader on issues of race, immigration, and morality. This suggests that Republicans obtain these opinions of race, immigration, and morality from sources other than political elites.

Author

• Marcos Menchaca, University of Texas at El Paso