Plea Bargaining Practices: Less Covert, more Public Support?

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 590-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Herzog
Keyword(s):  
Factorial Design ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Opening Up

Although a common practice in many legal systems, plea bargaining (PB) tends to be held in low esteem by the public at large. In the present study, which was based on a survey of a national sample of Israeli respondents, a factorial design methodology was used to examine public attitudes toward varied PB scenarios. It was hypothesized that opening up PB procedures to parties other than the traditionally involved “insiders” would enhance public support for PB. The findings of the study generally confirmed this hypothesis, albeit not completely: The effect of decreased covertness was minimal. This article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the findings.

scholarly journals Responsibilization and Sexual Stigma Under Austerity: Surveying Public Support for Government-Funded PrEP in England

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-653
Author(s):  
Timothy Hildebrandt ◽  
Leticia Bode ◽  
Jessica S. C. Ng
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sexual Stigma ◽  
The Government ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Media Narratives

Abstract Introduction Under austerity, governments shift responsibilities for social welfare to individuals. Such responsibilization can be intertwined with pre-existing social stigmas, with sexually stigmatized individuals blamed more for health problems due to “irresponsible” sexual behavior. To understand how sexual stigma affects attitudes on government healthcare expenditures, we examine public support for government-provisioned PrEP in England at a time when media narratives cast the drug as an expensive benefit for a small, irresponsible social group and the National Health Service’s long-term sustainability was in doubt. Methods This paper uses data from an original survey (N = 738) conducted in September 2016, when public opinion should be most sensitive to sexual stigma. A survey experiment tests how the way beneficiaries of PrEP were described affected support for NHS provision of it. Contrary to expectations, we found that support was high (mean = 3.86 on a scale of 1 to 5) irrespective of language used or beneficiary group mentioned. Differences between conditions were negligible. Discussion Sexual stigma does not diminish support for government-funded PrEP, which may be due to reverence for the NHS; resistance to responsibilization generally; or just to HIV, with the public influenced by sympathy and counter-messaging. Social policy implications Having misjudged public attitudes, it may be difficult for the government to continue to justify not funding PrEP; the political rationale for contracting out its provision is unnecessary and flawed. With public opinion resilient to responsibilization narratives and sexual stigma even under austerity, welfare retrenchment may be more difficult than social policymakers presume.

Mechanisms of Morality

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1814-1842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Kreps ◽  
Sarah Maxey
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Humanitarian Interventions ◽  
Humanitarian Crises

Humanitarian interventions (HIs) are a common aspect of US foreign policy. Policy makers acknowledge the importance of public support for interventions, but scholars remain divided about the extent and basis of that support. Using a series of survey experiments, we evaluate attitudes about HIs, assess whether the public supports these interventions for instrumental or moral reasons, and test which aspects of morality are most salient. The findings indicate that interventions addressing humanitarian crises boost public support, with the basis of that support residing primarily in normative contentions that the United States has a moral obligation to protect civilians. This research advances understandings of morality in foreign policy, mediates debates about the determinants of public attitudes—including when the public makes moral rather than prudent decisions about interventions—and has important policy implications. It suggests a morally motivated public may be more likely to support risky HIs, increasing the likelihood of using force.

Reality Asserts Itself: Public Opinion on Iraq and the Elasticity of Reality

2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Baum ◽  
Tim Groeling
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustained Change ◽  
Disaggregated Data ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Over Time

AbstractPrevailing theories hold that U.S. public support for a war depends primarily on its degree of success, U.S. casualties, or conflict goals. Yet, research into the framing of foreign policy shows that public perceptions concerning each of these factors are often endogenous and malleable by elites. In this article, we argue that both elite rhetoric and the situation on the ground in the conflict affect public opinion, but the qualities that make such information persuasive vary over time and with circumstances. Early in a conflict, elites (especially the president) have an informational advantage that renders public perceptions of “reality” very elastic. As events unfold and as the public gathers more information, this elasticity recedes, allowing alternative frames to challenge the administration's preferred frame. We predict that over time the marginal impact of elite rhetoric and reality will decrease, although a sustained change in events may eventually restore their influence. We test our argument through a content analysis of news coverage of the Iraq war from 2003 through 2007, an original survey of public attitudes regarding Iraq, and partially disaggregated data from more than 200 surveys of public opinion on the war.

Public Support for the Death Penalty in China: Less from the Populace but More from Elites

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
John Zhuang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Criminal Offenders ◽  
Support Rate ◽  
National Representative Sample

Abstract This article is the first to report the nationwide public support rate for the death penalty in China. Using a national representative sample with 31,664 respondents, it shows that 68 per cent of China's citizens are for the death penalty, while 31 per cent are opposed to it. These numbers suggest that support for capital punishment in China, although strong, is much weaker than in some other East Asian jurisdictions and less than first assumed by commentators. However, contrary to previous notions that public support for the death penalty derives from uninformed popular prejudice, it is the elites in China – i.e. those who receive higher education – who are more in favour of the death penalty. Further empirical analyses suggest that this is not because of political ideology or fear of crime. Rather, the reason is likely that the elites know fewer, and sympathize less with, criminal offenders, who generally come from underprivileged groups. These findings challenge a range of prevailing perceptions of public attitudes to the death penalty in China, especially the culture explanation for the Chinese public's punitiveness, and have important policy implications.

Misperceptions of Chinese Investments in Canada and Their Correction: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojun Li ◽  
Yingqiu Kuang ◽  
Linting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Direct Investment ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Corrective Information ◽  
Business Ties ◽  
Public Opposition

AbstractForeign direct investment (FDI) from China has recently met with increasing public opposition in many host nations. Why does the public respond less favourably to Chinese FDI than to FDI from other countries? We explore this question by conducting a series of survey experiments in Canada, where the majority of the public holds a negative opinion of Chinese investment. We find that the bias can be attributed to innumeracy about the relative size of China's FDI and misinformation about investment rules that govern FDI projects in Canada. Correcting both misperceptions substantially reduces the bias of respondents against FDI projects from China. These results suggest that corrective information can lead to positive change in public attitudes, a finding that has important policy implications for Canadian leaders hoping to expand the country's business ties with China.

scholarly journals Sontaku and political scandals in Japan

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-45
Author(s):  
Matthew M. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Japanese Politics ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Scandals ◽  
Specific Construction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain a new scandal ingredient in Japanese politics called sontaku. This word refers to cases when officials grant special treatment to a project because they believe they are acting in accordance with the wishes of an associated powerful person.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes the specific construction of major scandals involving sontaku from 2017 based primarily on newspaper accounts, examines the consequences of these scandals for politicians and bureaucrats, and discusses their implications for combating corruption in Japan.FindingsThe scandals after 2017 damaged to some extent the public support for the current Japanese administration and influenced the prime minister's decision to call a snap election. The scandals also highlighted systematic problems in the bureaucracy and motivated the government to reform laws concerning the management of public documents.Originality/valueThis paper will be useful to scholars and policy makers interested in studying the causes and consequences of scandals and political corruption in Japan.

scholarly journals How Moral Foundations Shape Public Approval of Nuclear, Chemical, and Conventional Strikes: New Evidence from Experimental Surveys

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Smetana ◽  
Marek Albert Vranka
Keyword(s):  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Military Force ◽  
The Public ◽  
Experimental Treatments ◽  
New Evidence

We present the results of two survey experiments on public support for nuclear, chemical, and conventional strikes. We examined how moral values of individuals interact with the approval of different kinds of strikes and with the effects of information about the ingroup and out-group fatalities. Our results show that while the public is more averse to the employment of chemical weapons than to the conduct of nuclear or conventional strikes, the overall relationship between strike approval and the individuals’ moral values does not differ across the three experimental treatments. In addition, we found that individuals’ scores in so-called “binding” moral values affect the sensitivity of the public for in-group fatalities. Findings of our paper contribute to the broader debates in the field about the strength and nature of the norms against the use of nuclear and chemical weapons, and about the role of morality in the public attitudes to the use of military force.

Cautious Optimism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Ron ◽  
Shannon Golden ◽  
David Crow ◽  
Archana Pandya
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
General Public ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Future Research ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The Public ◽  
Grassroots Support ◽  
International Human ◽  
Human Rights Norms

This chapter discusses key findings of the preceding chapters and presents some directions for future research. While public opinion in the global South is far from monolithic, this research found relative favor for human rights ideas and organizations, suggesting deeper grassroots support than many critics allege or practitioners fear. However, the preceding chapters also argued that this general public good will has not been fully harnessed or transformed into action. This chapter suggests that human rights researchers should spend more time investigating the public experiences with and opinions about human rights. Scholars have devoted enormous attention to the construction, diffusion, and reception of human rights norms, but have largely focused on states, legal systems, organizations, and other institutions. Few have explored public attitudes toward international human rights norms and organizations; additional research is needed on the depth, limits, variability, and potential of public support for human rights.

scholarly journals Public Attitudes toward Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Five Chinese Cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Guan ◽  
Ke Meng ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Lan Xue
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
National Level ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The Public ◽  
Heuristic Systematic Model ◽  
Development Goals

Raising public awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a critical prerequisite for their implementation. However, little is known about attitude formation among the public toward SDGs at the national level. We explored this topic in China, a country that has emerged as a leading world economy with strong transformational imperatives to work toward sustainable development. Following Chaiken’s heuristic–systematic model and using data from an online survey with 4128 valid respondents, this study investigated the factors that affect public support for SDGs and explains how individuals form supportive attitudes. Our empirical evidence showed that in China, first, public support is mainly shaped by demographic attributes (gender, age, and educational attainment), value predispositions (e.g., altruistic values and anthropocentric worldviews), and the level of SDG-relevant knowledge. Second, an interaction effect exists between value predispositions and knowledge among the public concerning support for SDGs. Third, the Chinese public views the implementation of SDGs as a part of development policy rather than environmental policy. This study provides empirical findings on the factors that account for public attitudes toward SDGs, outlining some useful implications for designing policy tools that would bolster SDG action.

Turning a Blind Eye: Public Support of Emergency Housing Policies for Sex Offenders

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly M. Socia ◽  
Christopher P. Dum ◽  
Jason Rydberg
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emergency Housing ◽  
Respondent Characteristics ◽  
Policy Scenarios

In this study, we examine the influences of citizen decision making in the context of four policy scenarios that would affect the living conditions of sex offenders (SOs) residing at an “emergency shelter” budget motel. We surveyed 773 citizens in an online survey about their support for four policy scenarios that would improve the living conditions of SOs: (a) at no cost to the respondent, (b) in exchange for a US$100 tax increase, and (c) by relocating SOs within the respondent’s neighborhood (i.e., “in my backyard”/IMBY scenario). The fourth scenario involved moving nearby SOs into substandard housing located far away from the respondent (i.e., “not in my backyard”/NIMBY). While prior research finds that the public overwhelmingly supports punitive SO policies, we find that indifference is a mainstay of public opinion about improving SO housing conditions. That is, we find only modest levels of average support for any of the policy scenarios, and policy support decreased when increased taxes would be involved, compared with a “no cost” scenario. While no respondent characteristics significantly predicted policy support consistently across all four scenarios, some scenarios showed stark differences in support when considering specific respondent characteristics. Overall, these results suggest that what does affect support depends on the details of the policy being proposed, as well as who is considering the policy. We end by discussing the policy implications of our study for both policymakers and the public.

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