scholarly journals How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES N. DRUCKMAN ◽  
ERIK PETERSON ◽  
RUNE SLOTHUUS
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The Public ◽  
Partisan Polarization ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

Competition is a defining element of democracy. One of the most noteworthy events over the last quarter-century in U.S. politics is the change in the nature of elite party competition: The parties have become increasingly polarized. Scholars and pundits actively debate how these elite patterns influence polarization among the public (e.g., have citizens also become more ideologically polarized?). Yet, few have addressed what we see as perhaps more fundamental questions: Has elite polarization altered the way citizens arrive at their policy opinions in the first place and, if so, in what ways? We address these questions with a theory and two survey experiments (on the issues of drilling and immigration). We find stark evidence that polarized environments fundamentally change how citizens make decisions. Specifically, polarization intensifies the impact of party endorsements on opinions, decreases the impact of substantive information and, perhaps ironically, stimulates greater confidence in those—less substantively grounded—opinions. We discuss the implications for public opinion formation and the nature of democratic competition.

scholarly journals The Need for Authenticity in Opinion Formation

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-423
Author(s):  
Antonio Amuza
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Silent Majority ◽  
The Public ◽  
Black Swans ◽  
The Impact

The need for authenticity is a latent manifesto of Romanians who seem overwhelmed by a constant wave of inauthenticity, prejudices, and stereotypes in an environment that makes it more difficult for us to adhere to a genuine development as individuals, but also as a society. Public opinion reveals itself under the impact of the desired authenticity to cope with galloping globalism, which turns us into bystanders of our own lives. More specifically, in a world where we have become accustomed to our ideas being very aesthetically packed, the characteristics of the products for which we show a certain interest, the quality of the services we want and the values we so ardently adhere to, the need to be sure that we receive exactly what we have been mentally longing for becomes a purpose in itself. Thus, the more common and plentiful the values we are exposed to, along with the risk that they may be prebuilt, the greater the possibility for people to develop the need for a guarantee of compliance with the promises made by these values – a need for authenticity. I hope that my paperwork can contribute to further research in terms of arousing the interest of those who are looking to better understand why globalism can affect both public opinion and authenticity. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the position of talking about black swans whenever the public opinion is different from the minority that we are part of. In a world of social media, the article talks about vocal minorities and the silent majority.

Economic Sanctions and Public Opinion: Survey Experiments From Russia

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 967-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Frye
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Opinion Survey ◽  
Public Opinion Survey ◽  
The Public ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
The Impact

Do economic sanctions turn the public against the target government or cause it to rally around the flag? How do sanctions affect attitudes toward the sanctioner? How does bad economic performance under sanctions shape support for the target government? Despite their importance, these questions have rarely been explored with survey data. Results from two surveys in Russia find that exposure to information about economic sanctions does not generate a rally around the flag, leads some groups to withdraw support from the target government, and reduces support for the sanctioner. Respondents also react more strongly to the reasons why sanctions were put in place—the annexation of Crimea—than to the sanctions themselves. These results suggest the need to reevaluate theories of the impact of economic sanctions and blame-shifting under autocracy.

The Jews in Rome during the Flavian Period

Antichthon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 156-172
Author(s):  
James S. McLaren
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Abrupt Change ◽  
The Public ◽  
Counter Narrative ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ways Of Life ◽  
The Way

AbstractDuring the late republic and early principate the Jews who called Rome their home occasionally found themselves in the public gaze. Some of their customs and aspects of their ways of life also attracted occasional comment, often for their apparently strange and foreign manner. At no stage, however, during this period did they feature prominently in the public sphere of life in Rome. The aftermath of the war of 66-70 CE brought about an abrupt change in circumstances for the Jews living in Rome. Apart from the immediate visual celebration of the triumph, there followed a number of substantial monumental and numismatic commemorations of the Roman victory. In this article the purpose and function of those commemorations and the possible consequences for the Jews who lived in Rome are examined. In particular, the impact of the public profiling of the war on Jewish identity and of how the writings of Josephus are to be read in this setting is explored. Rather than regard Josephus as a supporter of the Flavian rulers, writing an account of the war that encouraged fellow Jews to collaborate with Rome, it is argued that he was offering Jews in Rome a counter-narrative to the way the war was being publicly commemorated.

Six Dimensions of Public Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 399-430
Author(s):  
Paul Craig
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Six Dimensions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

This chapter draws on the six dimensions of public law covered in the book: theory, institutions and accountability, constitutions and rights, process and procedure, legislation, and case law. It links discussion of these dimensions, by considering how they have been affected by Brexit. The chapter is not concerned with the contending arguments for leaving or remaining in the European Union. The focus is on the way in which Brexit has ‘pressure-tested’ the public law regime in the United Kingdom and the European Union. The six dimensions of public law that are discussed in the preceding chapters form the architectural frame through which the impact of Brexit on the public law regimes is assessed in both the United Kingdom and the European Union.

scholarly journals Modeling Public Opinion Reversal Process with the Considerations of External Intervention Information and Individual Internal Characteristics

Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinggui Chen ◽  
Yulong Wang ◽  
Jianjun Yang ◽  
Guodong Cong
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
External Information ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reversal Process ◽  
Information Intensity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
External Intervention

With the rapid development of “we media” technology, external information about the same sudden hot social event is often involved repetitiously, leading to frequent public opinion reversal. However, the phenomenon of public opinion reversal process usually has a long-lasting duration and spreads wide, making the event itself attract the widespread attention of ordinary people. Focusing on the public opinion reversal process of sudden social hot topic (a popular and widely discussed issue), this paper firstly identifies the internal and external factors that affect the reversal, namely individual internal characteristics and external intervention information. Secondly, information intensity and the amount of information perceived by individuals are introduced to describe the impact of external intervention information on the public opinion reversal. Thirdly, the parameters of individual attention and conservation are used to describe the process of individual’s selection of external information, so as to reveal the influence of the internal characteristics on public opinion reversal, and then build a public opinion reversal model. Fourthly, the effects of information intensity and individual attention, as well as individual conservation on the process of public opinion reversal are analyzed by simulation experiment. Simulation results show that: (1) the intensity of external intervention information affects the direction and degree of public opinion reversal; (2) when individual conservation is strong or individual attention is weak, even if external intervention information is strong, there will still be no obvious reversal of public opinion. Subsequently, the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed model are verified by a real case. Finally, some recommendations and policy implications are also given.

scholarly journals Entre la tradición y la modernidad : las ceremonias públicas gallegas en el reinado de Fernando VII

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto J. López
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
General Context ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
The Public

Se analizan en este trabajo las ceremonias públicas gallegas del reinado de Fernando VII, tratando de integrarlas en el contexto general de la formación de la opinión pública y en el particular de la situación social y económica de Galicia en la crisis del Antiguo Régimen. El estudio a partir de ambos criterios permite entender las ceremonias públicas del período 1808-1833 como la manifestación de una sociedad que se debate entre dos grandes modelos socioeconómicos, el absolutista y el liberal, y en el que el peso del primero es abrumador.Public ceremonies during the Fernando VII reign in Gallee are analyzed in this work trying to intégrate them into the general context of public opinión formation and the particular economic and social context in Gallee in that time. So, we can understand the public ceremonies of 1808-1833 as the expression of a society with a strong discussion inside between two great social and economic models, absolutist and liberal, and with a special predominance of the traditional principies.

scholarly journals The impact of religious values in the Jordanian political discourses on public opinion (field study on universities students)

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaid Odeh Ebniya
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
University Students ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to know the effect of religious values that the Jordan Political discipline adopted and were mentioned in the Jordan political discourses (Amman Message 2005, discourse of King Abdullah II in the European Parliament 2008 and his discourse in United Nations 2015) on the public opinion of the university students, especially their attitudes toward terrorism and extremism. Defending Islam is the responsibility of the Jordan political leadership according to Hashemite legacy and promoting Islamic values that rejected terrorism and extremism to Jordanian youth, especially tolerance and moderation values, to counter defamations and claims against Islam and correct its image in the West. Design/methodology/approach A political discourse analysis approach was used by analyzing the Amman Message and identifying the most important religious values contained therein. Also, a quantitative research method was used in this study. The study population consisted of university students, particularly Jordanian University students because being one of the high-bred Jordanian universities, it is characterized with gender, age, regional affiliation and family income diversities. This study depends on a purposive sample containing 350 students (175 males and 175 females). The survey was conducted in the academic year (2018-2019). A questionnaire that was reviewed by three jurors was used in data collection. Findings The results of the analysis of the political discourse showed that the values of tolerance and moderation are among the most valued in the Amman Message, where they were frequently repeated. Also, findings have shown that the religious values adopted by the Jordanian political system mentioned in the political discourses had an impact on public opinion of university students on terrorism and extremism causes in a large percent. When gender differed (males and females), the impact ratio of the public opinion for males was higher than that for females. When the age group differed (18-22 and 23-30 years), the effect ratio with the old age group was higher than the effect ratio for the students with the youngest age group. When regional affiliation differed (Jordanian and Jordanian of Palestinian origin), the impact ratio of the public opinion for Jordanian students was higher than that for Jordanian students of Palestinian origin. When regional family income differed (500 dinars and less, more than 500 dinars), the impact ratio of the public opinion for students with family income more than 500 dinars was higher than that for students with family income 500 dinars and less. Originality/value This study represents an approach to recognize the effect of religious values that were adopted by the Jordanian political system mentioned in the political discourses on public opinion of university students on terrorism and extremism causes, considering that university students represent the influential youth group in the Jordanian society.

The cooperative and competitive mechanisms of a leader’s opinion transmission

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (09) ◽  
pp. 2050127
Author(s):  
Adil Amirjanov
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Continuous Model ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Public ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Cooperative Process ◽  
Competitive Mechanisms ◽  
The Individual

The paper modeled a leader’s opinion transmission in a population. The proposed model develops the cooperation agent-based continuous model in which the cooperation of individuals is based on the similarity of evolved “tags” which are relative to evolved tag-difference tolerances. In proposed model, an individual’s opinion and the individual’s tolerance are specified as variables in the model. During communication with each other and with a leader, the resources of individuals are incremented, if they are tolerable to the opinions of their opponents. An opinion formation in population is established by a cooperative process — changing individual’s opinion, if the individual is tolerable to the opinions of opponents, and by a competitive process — copying opinions and tolerances of successful individuals who have higher resource. Numerical experiments have proven that the public opinion reached a consensus followed the leader’s opinion.

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