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Communicative Institutions: Public Opinion, Mass Media, Polls, Associations

Jeffrey C. Alexander

in The Civil Sphere

Civil society should be understood not merely in terms of contrasting symbolic categories but as structures of feeling, the diffusely sensed obligations and rights that represent, and are at the same ... More

Civil society should be understood not merely in terms of contrasting symbolic categories but as structures of feeling, the diffusely sensed obligations and rights that represent, and are at the same time evoked by, contrasting solidary ties. Collective representations of such social relationships are broadcast by civil society institutions specializing in communicative, not regulative tasks—by the mass media, public opinion polls, and voluntary organizations. The structures of feeling that such institutions produce must be conceptualized as influence rather than authoritative control, or power in a more structural sense. They institutionalize civil society by creating messages that translate general codes into situationally specific evaluations and descriptions. This chapter analyzes these organizations of influence. It begins by discussing the lifeworld of public opinion which anchors communicative and regulative institutions alike.Less

Assessing Opinion

Brian Harrison

in The Transformation of British Politics 1860–1995

Politicians in Britain are not alone in needing to assess public opinion, but they did not pioneer modern techniques for doing so. The pioneers were social investigators grappling with poverty, ... More

Politicians in Britain are not alone in needing to assess public opinion, but they did not pioneer modern techniques for doing so. The pioneers were social investigators grappling with poverty, businessmen trying to predict their markets, pressure groups seeking reinforcement, and media people seeking readers, listeners, and viewers. When politicians did need to discover public opinion, whether to follow or reject it, they had their own special source of information: parliamentary elections, which were steadily refined to cope with urbanisation and industrialisation. As late-Victorian opinion congealed into a single national political community, parliament became an arena where parties returned from combat in one election only to launch a national dialogue that continuously fed into the next. Four challenges emerged to politicians' authority as judges of opinion: pressure groups, the referendum, the media, and opinion polls.Less

Al‐Jazeerah and the Internet as Sites of Democratic Struggle

Larbi Sadiki

in Rethinking Arab Democratization: Elections without Democracy

What role do al-Jazeerah and the Internet play in strengthening ‘Arab opinion’ and democratic struggles in the Arab World? This chapter attempts to answer this question by placing emphasis, as in the ... More

What role do al-Jazeerah and the Internet play in strengthening ‘Arab opinion’ and democratic struggles in the Arab World? This chapter attempts to answer this question by placing emphasis, as in the preceding chapter, on the importance of the widening of anti-authoritarian struggles. It focuses on the role played by the new information and communication technologies in empowering vocalization of dissidence, and the implications of this for state-society relations. The chapter assesses the value of blogs and online opinion polling, looking at their roles in the rise of Arab public opinion and the framing of the moment of democratic struggles from below. It attempts to make a case for how the rise of blogs and online opinion polling has reinvigorated Arab societies' response to the stalled top-down or controlled democratization, and their contests to state authority.Less

The Changing Climate For Reform

Margaret Otlowski

in Voluntary Euthanasia and the Common Law

This chapter explores the changing climate for legal reform with regard to active voluntary euthanasia by considering a number of related issues: public opinion which appears to be increasingly in ... More

This chapter explores the changing climate for legal reform with regard to active voluntary euthanasia by considering a number of related issues: public opinion which appears to be increasingly in support of the legalization of active voluntary euthanasia performed by doctors for terminally ill or incurable patients; the development of voluntary euthanasia organizations campaigning for the legalization of active voluntary euthanasia; and developments within the medical profession indicating growing support for the concept of active voluntary euthanasia. This chapter divides the discussion into three ares: opinion polls, voluntary euthanasia movement, and changes within the medical profession in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia.Less

Educating Global Citizens in the Cold War

Christopher P. Loss

in Between Citizens and the State: The Politics of American Higher Education in the 20th Century

This chapter depicts the challenges posed to higher education during the Cold War. Despite suffering a torrent of anticommunist attacks—and more than a few casualties—higher education also played a ... More

This chapter depicts the challenges posed to higher education during the Cold War. Despite suffering a torrent of anticommunist attacks—and more than a few casualties—higher education also played a leading role in the government's battle for hearts and minds in the 1950s. At home and abroad the American state deployed education in order to produce democratic citizens and then used public opinion polls to evaluate the integrity of the production process. Obsessively tracked during the Cold War, “public opinion” offered policymakers and educational elites access to the American people's collective psychological adjustment and mental health, to their intellectual fitness and their knowledge of the bipolar Cold War world in which they lived.Less

Public opinion and public policy in the Czech Republic

Paulína Tabery

in Policy Analysis in the Czech Republic

The chapter deals with the relationship between public opinion and public policy. The first part discusses the dominant role of opinion polls as a representation of public opinion, their strengths ... More

The chapter deals with the relationship between public opinion and public policy. The first part discusses the dominant role of opinion polls as a representation of public opinion, their strengths and weaknesses. Further, this part also deals with the question what policymakers consider as public opinion and what the role of interest groups in this context is. The conclusion of this section is devoted to the question of the impact of public opinion on public policy and problems in its measurement. The second part focuses on the Czech Republic. Firstly, it introduces the history of public opinion research in this country. Further, it focuses on interest in politics and public affairs and people's preferences in different areas of public life which might be addressed by public policies. Finally, the relationship between public opinion and public policy is demonstrated using the example of building an anti-missile radar base.Less

The Myths and Meaning of Public Opinion and World War II

in In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq

From December 31, 1944, until January 4, 1945, the American Institute of Public Opinion (AIPO) conducted a survey asking, “If Hitler offered to make peace now and would give up all land he has ... More

From December 31, 1944, until January 4, 1945, the American Institute of Public Opinion (AIPO) conducted a survey asking, “If Hitler offered to make peace now and would give up all land he has conquered, should we try to work out a peace or should we go on fighting until the German army is completely defeated?” Seventy-two percent of the public expressed support for the stated U.S. policy of unconditional surrender; the American people wanted to continue fighting until victory was complete. Aside from the work of a handful of historians, public opinion during World War II has gone largely unexamined. As a result, modern treatments of public opinion and war have almost completely ignored World War II. This chapter discusses the myths and meaning of public opinion in connection with World War II. It first looks at opinion polls in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s and the birth of survey research, before turning to the myths of World War II.Less

Perceptions of Disruption: Media Representations and Medical Staffs’ Perceptions of Undocumented Immigrants’ Impact on Healthcare Services in Post–SB 1070 Arizona

Jonathan Maupin

in Migration and Disruptions: Toward a Unifying Theory of Ancient and Contemporary Migrations

Anti-immigrant discourses persistently construct images of undocumented immigrants as a disruptive force in almost every aspect of American society. Yet, the extent to which these discourses reflect ... More

Anti-immigrant discourses persistently construct images of undocumented immigrants as a disruptive force in almost every aspect of American society. Yet, the extent to which these discourses reflect measurable impacts as opposed to perceived threats is uncertain. This chapter analyzes the representation and perception of undocumented immigrants as a threat to the U.S. healthcare system, and the state of Arizona in particular. Focusing on popular media coverage of anti-immigrant senate proposals regarding healthcare in Arizona, this chapter first analyzes the ways in which arguments in support and against the bills construct undocumented immigrants as disruptive threats to specific domains of U.S. society. Second, this chapter compares national public opinion polls of immigrants’ disruptive threats on the U.S. healthcare system with those of medical professionals in Arizona. These analyses highlight the tenuous relationship between perceptions of disruption and measurable impacts, and how these differences may influence healthcare delivery.Less

Elections and political communication

Donnacha ó Beacháin

in Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland

This chapter provides an introduction to how those competing for votes have communicated with the Irish electorate since the foundation of the state. The contours of those campaigns, from the 1920s ... More

This chapter provides an introduction to how those competing for votes have communicated with the Irish electorate since the foundation of the state. The contours of those campaigns, from the 1920s onwards, illustrate that personal contact remains a crucial component. Election campaigns are the most obvious and intense form of political communication and this chapter outlines how those seeking election have communicated with the electorate. Election campaigns are sporadic events during which the apathy that the non-participatory political system engenders has to be momentarily surmounted to inject renewed legitimacy into the system of organised political parties. How the citizenry are to be motivated to mobilise from their habitual passivity depends on the quality and quantity of political communication with the electorate. In short it is influenced, if not determined, by the character of the election campaign.Less

Public Ambivalence about Government

Sidney A. Shapiro and Joseph P. Tomain

in Achieving Democracy: The Future of Progressive Regulation

Chapter 3 further develops the theme discussed in Chapter 2 that the United States has experienced alternating periods of pro- and antigovernment sentiment. The ambivalence between favorable and ... More

Chapter 3 further develops the theme discussed in Chapter 2 that the United States has experienced alternating periods of pro- and antigovernment sentiment. The ambivalence between favorable and unfavorable attitudes toward government is repeatedly shown in public opinion polling. Public opinion polling reveals that even when Americans tell pollsters that government does more harm than good, they simultaneously tell pollsters that they favor retaining specific levels of social and economic regulation such as government support for social security, education, health care, and environmental protection. This polling also reveals a deeper truth. Americans are committed to core, and sometimes conflicting, values. Americans believe that capitalism is an important method for social ordering, and they believe that democracy reflects our historic values and must be secured even in the face of free-market advocacy.Less

Introduction

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad

in The Road to Iraq: The Making of a Neoconservative War

This chapter introduces readers to the key players who shaped the Iraq war policy. It identifies these individuals through the specific role each played in selling the war. It notes that they ... More

This chapter introduces readers to the key players who shaped the Iraq war policy. It identifies these individuals through the specific role each played in selling the war. It notes that they constitute a network with social ties, ideological coherence and institutional linkages. The chapter argues that the war was not inevitable and public opinion had to be manufactured in support of the war. It also shows that opinion polling might have overstated the true magnitude of support for the war.Less

“Vodka Is Our Enemy, but Who Said We’re Afraid of Enemies?”

Anna L. Bailey

in Politics under the Influence: Vodka and Public Policy in Putin's Russia

Addresses the surprisingly difficult matter of establishing how much alcohol Russians actually drink, and details the problems with the various statistical measures available. The chapter then ... More

Addresses the surprisingly difficult matter of establishing how much alcohol Russians actually drink, and details the problems with the various statistical measures available. The chapter then proceeds to explore the elusive meaning of the term “populist” when used in connection with alcohol policy. I describe the existence of an “alcohol doublethink” in public opinion, whereby people consider other people’s consumption a problem, but not their own. I use this notion to explain the apparent paradox of why are anti-alcohol policy measures are popular in theory but not in practice.Less

Method

James Hinton

in The Mass Observers: A History, 1937-1949

Away from the narrative, this chapter reviews Mass-Observation’s research methods, discussing the techniques employed by the fieldworkers: observation of behaviour, overheard conversion, informal and ... More

Away from the narrative, this chapter reviews Mass-Observation’s research methods, discussing the techniques employed by the fieldworkers: observation of behaviour, overheard conversion, informal and formal interviewing, verbatim transcription, etc. The social and political composition of the volunteer panel is analyzed, and the ways in which their questionnaire responses and war diaries were used by Mass-Observation are discussed. Comparison is made between the Mass-Observation panel and the panel developed during the war by Stephen Taylor, Mary Adams’s successor at Home Intelligence. Finally, the chapter analyzes John Ferraby’s methodological writings, which set out to justify Mass-Observation’s qualitative methods against the opinion pollster’s insistence that only quantitative methods based on representative sampling were appropriate for the assessment of public opinion.Less

Why was Runoff Superior? Theory and Cross-National Evidence

Cynthia McClintock

in Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin America

This chapter describes plurality advocates’ arguments against runoff and reports the cross-national evidence for and against them. Plurality advocates’ concerns about outsiders and voter fatigue were ... More

This chapter describes plurality advocates’ arguments against runoff and reports the cross-national evidence for and against them. Plurality advocates’ concerns about outsiders and voter fatigue were not borne out. However, runoff advocates’ concerns about legitimacy deficits and ideological extremes under plurality were warranted. The chapter also confirms that runoff lowered barriers to entry—especially important in the Latin American context of inaccurate pre-election opinion polls. Although the entry of new parties was a factor in the larger number of parties and paucity of legislative majorities under runoff, it was also helpful due to the authoritarian proclivities of many long-standing Latin American parties and the need, after the Cold War, to incorporate the left into the political arena.Less

The Fair Society

Amitai Etzioni (ed.)

in Uniting America: Restoring the Vital Center to American Democracy

This chapter introduces the concept of a fair society and argues for a greater emphasis on the value of “fairness” in American political dialogue as a means to achieve unity. Drawing on the results ... More

This chapter introduces the concept of a fair society and argues for a greater emphasis on the value of “fairness” in American political dialogue as a means to achieve unity. Drawing on the results of a nationwide public opinion poll conducted from June 28 through July 1, 2004, it shows that casting policy arguments in terms of fairness can give them a universalistic appeal that brings about consensus. The chapter first illustrates the seven policies used to introduce the fair society and the responses that they elicited: pension, insurance, deficits, audits by the Internal Revenue Service, CEO salaries, tax breaks, and Patriot Act. It then discusses the reactions given to the more generalized concept of a fair society.Less

An American Institution

in For the Many or the Few: The Initiative, Public Policy, and American Democracy

The initiative process embodies the simple idea that ordinary citizens should have the right to propose and pass laws without the consent of their elected representatives. The initiative has been a ... More

The initiative process embodies the simple idea that ordinary citizens should have the right to propose and pass laws without the consent of their elected representatives. The initiative has been a part of state and local government for more than one hundred years now, making it an older institution than universal women's suffrage, term limits for the president, direct election of U.S. senators, and so on. Opinion polls consistently reveal strong support for the initiative process at all levels of government—even the federal—from residents of both initiative and noninitiative states. Yet despite its enduring popularity, the initiative continues to trouble some observers, who question whether voters are sufficiently informed to decide complicated policy issues and whether the initiative ultimately promotes democracy or works to the advantage of the special interests. This chapter provides background information on the initiative—its history and current use—partly to dispel some misconceptions. It then discusses some important lessons from the previous literature, and explains the empirical approach of the book.Less

Conclusion

Eoin O’Malley, Roddy Flynn, Iain McMenamin, and Kevin Rafter

in Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland

The conclusion observes that, since the foundation of the state, the relationship dynamics that are at the heart of political communication, have been in perpetual flux and have waxed and waned as ... More

The conclusion observes that, since the foundation of the state, the relationship dynamics that are at the heart of political communication, have been in perpetual flux and have waxed and waned as political parties have come and gone and as new communication technologies have added to the multiplicity of means by which political communication, in its many different forms and with its many different agenda, can occur. Political communication can, in many ways, be described as an ever-ongoing contest for support that is played out in the media. While what we refer to as ‘the media’ has changed hugely over the past decade or so, it is clear that, whatever about levelling the playing field, the new technologies have certainly added additional platforms to the age-old competition for support of a party, candidate or idea. Whether we can continue to rely on the media to provide depth and context is highly debatable. The ever increasing array of new media platforms present a multiplicity of avenues for political expression but also present the possibly that such activity is ‘narrowcasting’ rather than broadcasting. Similarly, the instantaneous nature of modern reporting within an ever-accelerating news cycle characterised by an emphasis on the latest developments leaves little or no time for depth or context to be provided.Less