Jean Charlot
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280354
- eISBN:
- 9780191599422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280351.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Despite the rise in electoral abstention, decline in party identification, and lack of trust in political elites, representative democracy is not in crisis, although the economic policies of ...
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Despite the rise in electoral abstention, decline in party identification, and lack of trust in political elites, representative democracy is not in crisis, although the economic policies of governments have been frequently ineffective. European leaders have used opinion polls, which are effective in reaching more than the active minorities, to remain in touch with what the electors desire. Between elections, public opinion, as polls reveal it, as the media present, and as the politicians respond to it, exerts increasing pressure on government decision‐making.Less
Despite the rise in electoral abstention, decline in party identification, and lack of trust in political elites, representative democracy is not in crisis, although the economic policies of governments have been frequently ineffective. European leaders have used opinion polls, which are effective in reaching more than the active minorities, to remain in touch with what the electors desire. Between elections, public opinion, as polls reveal it, as the media present, and as the politicians respond to it, exerts increasing pressure on government decision‐making.
Jeffrey C. Alexander
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195162509
- eISBN:
- 9780199943364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162509.003.0020
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
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 ...
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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
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.
Brian Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198731214
- eISBN:
- 9780191694967
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198731214.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
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, ...
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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
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.
Larbi Sadiki
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562985
- eISBN:
- 9780191721182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562985.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Democratization
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 ...
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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
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.
Margaret Otlowski
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198298687
- eISBN:
- 9780191685507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198298687.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Medical 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 ...
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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
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.
Nathaniel Persily, Jack Citrin, and Patrick J. Egan (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195329414
- eISBN:
- 9780199851720
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329414.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
American politics is most notably characterized by the heated debates on constitutional interpretation at the core of its ever-raging culture wars, and the coverage of these lingering disputes is ...
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American politics is most notably characterized by the heated debates on constitutional interpretation at the core of its ever-raging culture wars, and the coverage of these lingering disputes is often inundated with public-opinion polls. Yet for all their prominence in contemporary society, there has never been an all-inclusive, systematic study of public opinion and how it impacts the courts and electoral politics. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of American public opinion on the key constitutional controversies of the 20th century, including desegregation, school prayer, abortion, the death penalty, affirmative action, gay rights, assisted suicide, and national security, to name just a few. With chapters focusing on each issue in-depth, the book utilizes public-opinion data to illustrate these contemporary debates, methodically examining each one and how public attitudes have shifted over time, especially in the wake of prominent Supreme Court decisions. The chapters join the “popular constitutionalism” debate between those who advocate a dominant role for courts in constitutional adjudication and those who prefer a more pluralized constitutional discourse. Each chapter also details the gap between the public and the Supreme Court on these hotly contested issues and analyzes how and why this divergence of opinion has grown or shrunk over the last fifty years.Less
American politics is most notably characterized by the heated debates on constitutional interpretation at the core of its ever-raging culture wars, and the coverage of these lingering disputes is often inundated with public-opinion polls. Yet for all their prominence in contemporary society, there has never been an all-inclusive, systematic study of public opinion and how it impacts the courts and electoral politics. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of American public opinion on the key constitutional controversies of the 20th century, including desegregation, school prayer, abortion, the death penalty, affirmative action, gay rights, assisted suicide, and national security, to name just a few. With chapters focusing on each issue in-depth, the book utilizes public-opinion data to illustrate these contemporary debates, methodically examining each one and how public attitudes have shifted over time, especially in the wake of prominent Supreme Court decisions. The chapters join the “popular constitutionalism” debate between those who advocate a dominant role for courts in constitutional adjudication and those who prefer a more pluralized constitutional discourse. Each chapter also details the gap between the public and the Supreme Court on these hotly contested issues and analyzes how and why this divergence of opinion has grown or shrunk over the last fifty years.
Christopher P. Loss
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691148274
- eISBN:
- 9781400840052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148274.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 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 ...
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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
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.
Paulína Tabery
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447318149
- eISBN:
- 9781447318156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447318149.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
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 ...
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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 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.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226043586
- eISBN:
- 9780226043463
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226043463.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
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 ...
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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
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.
Jonathan Maupin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813060804
- eISBN:
- 9780813050874
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813060804.003.0012
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
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 ...
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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
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.
Donnacha ó Beacháin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781380277
- eISBN:
- 9781781381564
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781380277.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
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 ...
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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
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.
Sidney A. Shapiro and Joseph P. Tomain
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199965540
- eISBN:
- 9780199360833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199965540.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
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 ...
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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
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.
Muhammad Idrees Ahmad
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780748693023
- eISBN:
- 9781474406086
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748693023.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
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 ...
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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
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.
Anna L. Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501724374
- eISBN:
- 9781501724381
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501724374.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Russian Politics
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 ...
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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
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.
James Hinton
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199671045
- eISBN:
- 9780191750656
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199671045.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
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 ...
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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
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.
Mark O’Brien and Donnacha Ó Beacháin (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781380277
- eISBN:
- 9781781381564
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781380277.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book presents an overview of political communication in the Republic of Ireland from a multiplicity of perspectives and sources. It brings academics and practitioners together to examine the ...
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This book presents an overview of political communication in the Republic of Ireland from a multiplicity of perspectives and sources. It brings academics and practitioners together to examine the development, current shape, and the future trajectory of political communication in Ireland. The field of political communication, where politicians, public relations professionals and journalists interact, has always been a highly contested one fuelled by suspicion, mutual dependence and fraught relationships. While politicians need the media they remain highly suspicious of journalists. While journalists remain wary of politicians, they need access to them for information. What emerges is a relatively stable relationship of mutual dependence with the boundaries policed by public relation professions. Access is negotiated, off-the-record quotations fill the journalists’ notebooks and politicians fly kites about possible initiatives. However, every so often, in times of political crisis or upheaval, this relationship gives way to a near free-for-all. Politicians, spokespersons and sometimes even journalists, become fair game in the battle for public accountability. The determination of public relations professions to avoid this and keep the relationship based on mutual dependence has become a central component of modern statecraft and systems of governance. Using Ireland as a case study, this book examines the process through which this need to keep politicians and the media ‘on message’ and use the media to inform, shape and manage public discourse has become central to the workings of government, opposition and interest groups. It also examines how the packaging of politics may impact on the democratic process.Less
This book presents an overview of political communication in the Republic of Ireland from a multiplicity of perspectives and sources. It brings academics and practitioners together to examine the development, current shape, and the future trajectory of political communication in Ireland. The field of political communication, where politicians, public relations professionals and journalists interact, has always been a highly contested one fuelled by suspicion, mutual dependence and fraught relationships. While politicians need the media they remain highly suspicious of journalists. While journalists remain wary of politicians, they need access to them for information. What emerges is a relatively stable relationship of mutual dependence with the boundaries policed by public relation professions. Access is negotiated, off-the-record quotations fill the journalists’ notebooks and politicians fly kites about possible initiatives. However, every so often, in times of political crisis or upheaval, this relationship gives way to a near free-for-all. Politicians, spokespersons and sometimes even journalists, become fair game in the battle for public accountability. The determination of public relations professions to avoid this and keep the relationship based on mutual dependence has become a central component of modern statecraft and systems of governance. Using Ireland as a case study, this book examines the process through which this need to keep politicians and the media ‘on message’ and use the media to inform, shape and manage public discourse has become central to the workings of government, opposition and interest groups. It also examines how the packaging of politics may impact on the democratic process.
Cynthia McClintock
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190879754
- eISBN:
- 9780190879792
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190879754.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Democratization
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 ...
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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
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.
Amitai Etzioni (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300108569
- eISBN:
- 9780300133189
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300108569.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Social History
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 ...
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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
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.
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226510811
- eISBN:
- 9780226510873
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226510873.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
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 ...
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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
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.
Eoin O’Malley, Roddy Flynn, Iain McMenamin, and Kevin Rafter
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781380277
- eISBN:
- 9781781381564
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781380277.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
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 ...
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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
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.