Public opinion and the political process

1993 ◽  
pp. 178-192
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political

Communication

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian D. Liddy
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
And Control ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

The exercise of political power in late medieval English towns was predicated upon the representation, management, and control of public opinion. This chapter explains why public opinion mattered so much to town rulers; how they worked to shape opinion through communication; and the results. Official communication was instrumental in the politicization of urban citizens. The practices of official secrecy and public proclamation were not inherently contradictory, but conflict flowed from the political process. The secrecy surrounding the practices of civic government provoked ordinary citizens to demand more accountability from town rulers, while citizens, who were accustomed to hear news and information circulated by civic magistrates, were able to use what they knew to challenge authority.

The speeches to the People in Cicero's oratorical corpora

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-175
Author(s):  
Gesine Manuwald
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Events

This paper discusses the function of speeches given by Cicero to the popular assembly (contio) as reports about recent political events or decrees. Several of the few extant examples are part of oratorical corpora consisting of speeches from politically difficult periods, namely from Cicero's consular year (63 BCE; Catilinarians) and from his fight against Mark Antony (44–43 BCE; Philippics). Cicero is shown to have applied his oratorical abilities in all these cases to exploit the contio speeches so as to present narrative accounts of political developments in his interpretation and thus to influence public opinion in the short term during the political process and particularly, within an edited corpus, in the long term.

scholarly journals Is the Political Animal Politically Ignorant? Applying Evolutionary Psychology to the Study of Political Attitudes

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 147470491201000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bang Petersen ◽  
Lene Aarøe
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Straightforward Application ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
Modern Mass

As evidenced by research in evolutionary psychology, humans have evolved sophisticated psychological mechanisms tailored to solve enduring adaptive problems of social life. Many of these social problems are political in nature and relate to the distribution of costs and benefits within and between groups. In that sense, evolutionary psychology suggests that humans are, by nature, political animals. By implication, a straightforward application of evolutionary psychology to the study of public opinion seems to entail that modern individuals find politics intrinsically interesting. Yet, as documented by more than fifty years of research in political science, people lack knowledge of basic features of the political process and the ability to form consistent political attitudes. By reviewing and integrating research in evolutionary psychology and public opinion, we describe (1) why modern mass politics often fail to activate evolved mechanisms and (2) the conditions in which these mechanisms are in fact triggered.

To tell it directly or not: Coding transparency and corruption in Malagasy political oratory

2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNIFER L. JACKSON
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Political Modernity ◽  
Moral Structure ◽  
Political Oratory

ABSTRACTThis article discusses stylistic and contextual variations in the political oratory (kabary politika) of urban Madagascar. New imported oratorical styles and older styles ofkabaryrepresent competing linguistic markets where political leaders field broader issues of political modernity, fighting government corruption through reforms toward transparency.Kabaryhas become the object of criticism in models for transparent government practice. This has affected the way leaders speak to and about the country, reifying a moral structure arguing what constitutes truth and how speakers understand language as conveying that truth. In this respect, this article describes linguistic and metalinguistic encodings of transparency versus corruption in the political communication styles of highland Malagasy political orators. It looks at how the rhetorical modes of an urban polity are reorganized in ways that reshape vernacular epistemologies of truth in language and shift the production of particular publics and their access to participation in political process. (Madagascar,kabary, oratory, democracy, linguistic variation, language ideology, truth and ethics, public opinion, public culture)*

3. Debating Politics and Making Laws

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-97
Author(s):  
Peter John
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter evaluates the institution of the UK Parliament, where parliamentarians have a chance to debate issues of the day and to make laws. It reviews classic arguments about the power of Parliament in relation to the executive, before looking at the role of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The account is still influenced by the Westminster system of government, whereby the executive in the form of the government is sustained in power by having a majority in the House of Commons. The chapter then considers what Members of Parliament (MPs) and other representatives do in office, and how their behaviour links to other features of the political process, such as public opinion and constituency interests. It also compares other legislatures, such as the Scottish Parliament, with the UK Parliament.

Changing Conceptions of Public Opinion in the Political Process

1987 ◽  
Vol 51 (part 2: Supplement: 50th Anniversary Issue) ◽  
pp. S12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip E. Converse
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political

Political Skills or Lying and Manipulation? The Choreography of the Northern Ireland Peace Process

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Moral Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Skills ◽  
Realist Position ◽  
Back Stage

The ‘real war’ and ‘propaganda war’ fought over Northern Ireland for thirty years polarised party and public opinion. The key dilemma faced by politicians during the recent peace process has been how to wind down the ‘war’ and win sufficient party and public support for an accommodation between unionists and nationalists which falls so far short of previous expectations. Scripts telling contrasting stories have been prepared to convince rival republican and unionist audiences to support the peace process. In addition, the pro-Agreement parties have attempted to shift opinion towards accommodation through a range of political skills and choreography. Key competing parties and governments have sometimes co-operated back stage while front stage they have on occasion ‘play acted’ conflict between each other. The political skills, or lying and manipulation, by which the peace process has been driven forward have been uncovered creating public distrust in the political process. Realists see such political deception as an inevitable part of politics and permissible on the grounds that the ends justify the means. Absolutists attack the ‘spin, lying and manipulation’ of the peace process as an assault on democracy. A third democratic realist position argues that sometimes moral leadership requires doing wrong to do right but the gap between ‘truth’ and ‘spin’ should be narrowed. A more open and honest politics would not only be more accountable and democratic but also effective in advancing the peace process.

Regional political elite in public opinion (on the example of Astrakhan region)

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-85
Author(s):  
LILIA IVANOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Opinion Poll ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Theoretical Approaches

The article analyses the characteristics of the regional political elite from the point of view of the region’s public opinion. The purpose of the study is to examine public opinion concerning the elite political group of the Astrakhan region. The paper presents the main theoretical approaches to the definition of the political elite and identifies its structural characteristics in modern Russian society. The author conducted a questionnaire sociological survey of the population of the Astrakhan region, according to the results of which there is a formulated idea of the state of the regional elite. Additionally, the article describes the advantages and disadvantages of this group, considers the key qualities of its representatives, and possible ways to further development. The author concludes that the population of the Astrakhan region characterizes the political elite extremely contradictory: with a negative characterization of its main representatives in terms of qualitative indicators and parameters of its effectiveness, we can see the positive dynamics of public opinion. Also, the public opinion poll confirmed the expert point of view regarding the low level of conflict of the Astrakhan political elite and its ability to find solutions to difficult political situations. The study of regional political elites promotes dialogue among all actors in the political process.

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