American Public Opinion

Robert S. Erikson is Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. He has written widely on American politics and is the coauthor of the following books: Statehouse Democracy (1994); The Macro Polity (2002); and The Timeline of Presidential Elections (2012). He has written articles on U.S. politics for major political science journals, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Public Opinion Quarterly, among others. He is the past editor of the American Journal of Political Science and of Political Analysis.Kent L. Tedin is Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston. He served as department chair from 1984 to 2002 and 2017 to 2018. He has written extensively on political socialization, notably the influence of families and peers on the filial generation. He has also written a number articles on schools and public opinion, including how charter schools affect the social capital of parents, as well as how race and academic quality attributed to character school affect parent choice. Recently, he has written on family socialization in a polarized era. He has published articles in every major political science journal, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Public Opinion Quarterly, among others.

• 1. Public Opinion in Democratic Societies 2. Polling: The Scientific Assessment of Public Opinion 3. Microlevel Opinion: The Psychology of Opinion-Holding 4. Macrolevel Opinion: The Flow of Political Sentiment 5. Political Socialization and Political Learning 6. Public Opinion and Democratic Stability 7. Group Differences in Political Opinions 8. The News Media and Political Opinions 9. Elections as Instruments of Popular Control 10. The Public and Its Elected Leaders 11. Public Opinion and the Performance of Democracy. Appendix: The American National Election Study and the General Social Survey