Lauren Silver POLS 540 Week 2: Public Opinion

In The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics, Philip Converse compares and contrasts
the nature of belief systems of elite political actors to those of the masses. He emphasizes from
the outset that such an attempt necessitates that he addresses the same measurement problems
that have plagued researchers to date on measuring subjective states. ccording to Converse, a
belief system is a collection of ideas and attitudes that are connected by some level of constraint,
or functional interdependence. !his constraint"the idea that an individual#s attitude regarding
some political issue provides insight into his or her attitude regarding other political issues"
forms the core concept that differentiates the belief systems of elite political actors versus the
belief systems of those comprising the mass public. $ore specifically, Converse describes a
series of changes that ta%e place &hen one moves from e'amining sources of elite belief systems
to e'amining sources of the mass public#s belief systems( information loss from the elite to the
mass level results in decreasing constraint of political attitudes and the central ideas that
comprise the belief system transition from abstract )i.e., liberalism vs. conservatism* to simple
and close+to+home )i.e., family, job, etc.*. $oreover, as one moves do&n&ard through the
various strata of mass public respondents defined by Converse#s e'amination of the merican
electorate"ideologues, near+ideologues, group interest, nature of the times, and no issue content
"the difference in constraint &ithin belief systems bet&een the masses and elite political actors
becomes even more pronounced. !he major difference bet&een the various levels of respondents
in their recognition and understanding of liberal+conservative meanings is education"those &ith
more education are more li%ely to be classified as ideologues.
Converse describes an e'tremely fragmented merican electorate"a mass public that is,
for the most part, much less informed and therefore much less uniform in its political attitudes
and groupings of similar idea+elements. In Ideological Thinking among Mass Publics and
Lauren Silver POLS 540 Week 2: Public Opinion
Political Elites, ,ent -ennings uses more recent data ).//0* and e'hibits as did Converse that the
&ay political elites organize their belief systems varies tremendously from the mass public.
lthough this may be the case more often than not, the current health care reform debate
provides an interesting e'ample of ho& a recent political issue has narro&ed the gap bet&een
ho& the belief systems of political elites and the mass public operate. 1espite individual efforts
from both camps to frame the debate around universal health care coverage and covering the
uninsured, both political elites and members of the mass public sling such terms as
government+run health care, single+payer system, and socialized medicine. !he use of
such terms e'hibits thin%ing along a liberal+conservative continuum regarding the e'tent of
government intervention in providing health care coverage. !hus, one possibility is that
Converse#s findings may apply more directly on a broad level and in relation to more generic
political issues, e.g., &elfare benefits, ta'ation, etc. 2hen it comes to more specific and urgent
political matters"such as the very real possibility that pending legislation &ill overhaul the 3.4.
health care system"the flo& of information resulting from the controversy may be strong
enough to some&hat tighten the divide bet&een political elite and mass public belief systems.