scholarly journals Scientific risk communication about controversial issues influences public perceptions of scientists' political orientations and credibility

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 170505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Vraga ◽  
Teresa Myers ◽  
John Kotcher ◽  
Lindsey Beall ◽  
Ed Maibach
Keyword(s):  
Risk Communication ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
The Political ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Perceptions ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Public Views

Many scientists communicate with the public about risks associated with scientific issues, but such communication may have unintended consequences for how the public views the political orientations and the credibility of the communicating scientist. We explore this possibility using an experiment with a nationally representative sample of Americans in the fall of 2015. We find that risk communication on controversial scientific issues sometimes influences perceptions of the political orientations and credibility of the communicating scientist when the scientist addresses the risks of issues associated with conservative or liberal groups. This relationship is moderated by participant political ideology, with liberals adjusting their perceptions of the scientists' political beliefs more substantially when the scientist addressed the risks of marijuana use when compared with other issues. Conservatives' political perceptions were less impacted by the issue context of the scientific risk communication but indirectly influenced credibility perceptions. Our results support a contextual model of audience interpretation of scientific risk communication. Scientists should be cognizant that audience members may make inferences about the communicating scientist's political orientations and credibility when they engage in risk communication efforts about controversial issues.

Are misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories for political extremists?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-605
Author(s):  
Adam M. Enders ◽  
Joseph E. Uscinski
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Representative Samples

Extremist political groups, especially “extreme” Republicans and conservatives, are increasingly charged with believing misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories to a greater extent than moderates and those on the political left by both a burgeoning scholarly literature and popular press accounts. However, previous investigations of the relationship between political orientations and alternative beliefs have been limited in their operationalization of those beliefs and political extremity. We build on existing literature by examining the relationships between partisan and nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs and symbolic and operational forms of political extremity. Using two large, nationally representative samples of Americans, we find that ideological extremity predicts alternative beliefs only when the beliefs in question are partisan in nature and the measure of ideology is identity-based. Moreover, we find that operational ideological extremism is negatively related to nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs. Our findings help reconcile discrepant findings regarding the relationship between political orientations and conspiracy beliefs.

Religiosity and Political Attitudes in Turkey during the AKP Era

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Erdem Aytaç
Keyword(s):  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Positive Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Role ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

This chapter examines the relationship between religiosity and political attitudes in Turkey during the incumbency of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). There were several restrictions on the public role and visibility of Islam in Turkey when the AKP came to power in 2002, and the party gradually lifted these restrictions over time. Did this change in the state’s policies and approach toward religion affect the political attitudes of devout Muslims? Analyses of a series of nationally representative surveys spanning the period 2002–2018 highlight that the AKP governments’ positive approach to Islamic religiosity in public life led to a rapprochement of devout Muslims with the political regime. There is no evidence that this rapprochement has been accompanied by a more pluralistic understanding of democracy, however, as more religious individuals tend to hold more populist attitudes than less religious ones.

Religion, Religiosity and the Place of Islam in Political Life: Insights from the Arab Barometer Surveys

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Tessler
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Civic Values ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Islam And Democracy

AbstractThis paper explores the nature and determinants of attitudes toward the political role of Islam held by ordinary citizens in the Arab world. Based on results from nationally representative surveys carried out in seven Arab states during 2006-2007, it engages the pervasive debate about Islam and democracy—showing that the significant divide is not between those who favor democracy and those who favor Islam, but between those who favor secular democracy and those who favor a political system that is both democratic and Islamic in some meaningful way. Furthermore, this analysis finds that the civic values and predispositions of individuals who favor a political role for Islam are overwhelmingly similar to those of individuals who favor a separation of religion and politics. The paper also finds little consistency in the factors that incline individuals towards support for political Islam in the different countries surveyed. Most importantly, this analysis concludes that there is little or no incompatibility between Islam and democracy in the public mind and that a proper understanding of the reasons and ways that Muslim Arab publics think about governance and the political role of Islam is possible only if attention is paid to the particular political and societal contexts within which attitudes are formed.

scholarly journals To vote or not to vote? The political orientations of Millennials in a comparative perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-244
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Zachara
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
Distinct Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Generational Shift ◽  
Political Landscapes ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Comparative Examination

AbstractThis article concentrates on the transformative potential of the Millennial generation within the framework of the political landscapes of the United States, several European countries and Russia. Generational experiences frame the context for the comparative examination of the democratic order and the perspectives for democratic transition. In Western countries, the group is a potentially powerful political force, yet its members do not pursue traditional forms of civic engagement – they are sceptical about institutional forms of participation and have little trust in public authority. Embedded in a youth-marginalization discourse, the public identities of the Millennials are seen rather as a manifestation of the failures of democratic representation, rather than as forms of agency seeking new ways of political expression. The orientations of this distinct group also present a puzzle when the future of authoritarian regimes is discussed: Millennials’ openness to political change is often questioned, despite the prominent role they play in the rise of the opposition forces that gained influence during Vladimir Putin’s third term. Nevertheless, in both contexts, the ongoing generational shift has become an increasingly important area for social-scientific investigation and it is being directly related to broader arguments about the nature of political change.

scholarly journals A Sense of Hopelessness? Portuguese Oppositionists Abroad in the Final Years of the Estado Novo, 1968–1974

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO AIRES OLIVEIRA
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
East West ◽  
Western Democracies

The article examines the role played by the Portuguese oppositionist diaspora in the final years of the Estado Novo dictatorship (c. 1968–c.1974). It advances an explanation for the apparent lack of success met by several exile groups when trying to persuade the Western democracies to withdraw (or at least reduce) their support for Lisbon's authoritarian regime during a period in which the public was increasingly aware of human rights abuses. The choice of this particular juncture is justified for several reasons. Firstly, it was a time of renewed expectations regarding a possible liberalisation of the regime in the aftermath of the replacement of the incapacitated Oliveira Salazar by the younger Marcelo Caetano (September 1968), an event that confronted the different sections of the Portuguese opposition with a number of dilemmas, both at home and abroad, and exposed rifts that would take some time to repair. Secondly, this was also an epoch of momentous social and cultural change in Europe, with obvious ramifications for the political orientations and attitudes of those who, for different reasons, had decided to leave Portugal in the 1960s. Finally, the vicissitudes of the East–West détente are seen here as equally important for understanding the opportunities and limitations of the anti-Estado Novo opposition abroad.

Democracy in America? Partisanship, Polarization, and the Robustness of Support for Democracy in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW H. GRAHAM ◽  
MILAN W. SVOLIK
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Democratic Stability ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Do So

Is support for democracy in the United States robust enough to deter undemocratic behavior by elected politicians? We develop a model of the public as a democratic check and evaluate it using two empirical strategies: an original, nationally representative candidate-choice experiment in which some politicians take positions that violate key democratic principles, and a natural experiment that occurred during Montana’s 2017 special election for the U.S. House. Our research design allows us to infer Americans’ willingness to trade-off democratic principles for other valid but potentially conflicting considerations such as political ideology, partisan loyalty, and policy preferences. We find the U.S. public’s viability as a democratic check to be strikingly limited: only a small fraction of Americans prioritize democratic principles in their electoral choices, and their tendency to do so is decreasing in several measures of polarization, including the strength of partisanship, policy extremism, and candidate platform divergence. Our findings echo classic arguments about the importance of political moderation and cross-cutting cleavages for democratic stability and highlight the dangers that polarization represents for democracy.

The Network of Celebrity Politics

2015 ◽  
Vol 659 (1) ◽  
pp. 246-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungjin Park ◽  
Jihye Lee ◽  
Seungjin Ryu ◽  
Kyu S. Hahn
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The Political ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Celebrity Politics ◽  
Twitter Users

With the rise of networked media such as Twitter, celebrities’ ability to speak on policy matters directly to the public has become amplified. We investigate the political implications of celebrity activism on Twitter by estimating the political ideology of thirty-four South Korean news outlets and fourteen political celebrities based on the co-following pattern among 1,868,587 Twitter users. We also had a rare opportunity to match their following behavior with individual-level attributes by relying on supplementary survey data on 11,953 members of an online survey panel. Our results reveal that celebrity following on Twitter is ideologically skewed; a vast majority of Korean Twitter users following politically influential celebrities are liberal. Additionally, survey results show that political celebrities are more likely to attract those lacking the ability to process one-sided information in a balanced manner.

The Public Backlash against PACs

1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Prakash Sethi ◽  
Nobuaki Namiki
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Political Action Committees ◽  
The Political ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Highly Correlated

The American public distrusts political action committees and considers them harmful to the nation's democratic political process. This negative reaction is independent of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, political ideology, and party affiliation, but is highly correlated with optimism about the future and confidence in the nation's political, legal, and economic institutions and their leaders. The findings of this study suggest that business must undertake substantive and communications-related measures to improve public perception of PAC activities if it is to maintain societal legitimacy in its involvement in the political process.

scholarly journals Microbial water quality communication: public and practitioner insights from British Columbia, Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 584-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Dunn ◽  
N. Henrich ◽  
B. Holmes ◽  
L. Harris ◽  
N. Prystajecky
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Views

This work examines the communication interactions of water suppliers and health authorities with the general public regarding microbial source water quality for recreational and drinking water. We compare current approaches to risk communication observable in British Columbia (BC), Canada, with best practices derived from the communications literature, finding significant gaps between theory and practice. By considering public views and government practices together, we identify key disconnects, leading to the conclusion that at present, neither the public's needs nor public health officials' goals are being met. We find: (1) there is a general lack of awareness and poor understanding by the public of microbial threats to water and the associated health implications; (2) the public often does not know where to find water quality information; (3) public information needs are not identified or met; (4) information sharing by authorities is predominantly one-way and reactive (crisis-oriented); and (5) the effectiveness of communications is not evaluated. There is a need for both improved public understanding of water quality-related risks, and new approaches to ensure information related to water quality reaches audiences. Overall, greater attention should be given to planning and goal setting related to microbial water risk communication.

Bureaucratic reputation in the eyes of citizens: an analysis of US federal agencies

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danbee Lee ◽  
Gregg G. Van Ryzin
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
General Level ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
Multiple Audiences ◽  
Contextual Determinants ◽  
Us Federal Government ◽  
Public Views

Bureaucratic reputation has been defined as a set of beliefs about a public organization’s capacities, roles, and obligations that are embedded in a network of multiple audiences (Carpenter, 2010). Although one of the most important audiences in a democracy is the citizenry, very little empirical investigation has looked at citizens’ beliefs about specific government agencies and what individual or contextual factors influence these beliefs. To examine this question, this study analyzes data from a unique 2013 Pew Political Survey that represents the responses of 1500 US citizens on the reputations of 12 federal agencies. Results demonstrate that citizens view the reputations of some agencies (such as the CDC and NASA) much more favorably than other agencies (such as the IRS and the Department of Education). In regression analyses, findings suggest that the reputation of federal agencies varies according to citizens’ general level of trust in government and their political ideology, but that demographic, socioeconomic and regional differences also shape reputation judgments. These findings provide some preliminary empirical understanding of the reputation of government agencies in the eyes of the citizenry and may have implications for agencies seeking to manage their relationship with the public.Points for practitionersBureaucratic reputation has important implications for public administrators because of its influence on a government agency’s autonomy, power, and legitimacy. Our study examines the reputations of 12 US federal government agencies and identifies individual and contextual determinants of citizens’ reputation ratings. We demonstrate that reputations differ between agencies and that certain factors – especially political ideology and trust in government – shape how the public views an agency’s reputation. These findings can help practitioners understand better how to strategically manage their agency’s reputation given an increasingly critical citizenry.

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