Re-Examining Group-Centrism in American Public Opinion: The Case of Anti-Latino Sentiment and Immigration Policy Attitudes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris E. Levy ◽  
Matthew Wright
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Policy Attitudes

How government-controlled media shifts policy attitudes through framing

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jennifer Pan ◽  
Zijie Shao ◽  
Yiqing Xu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Composite Measures ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Tv News

Abstract Research shows that government-controlled media is an effective tool for authoritarian regimes to shape public opinion. Does government-controlled media remain effective when it is required to support changes in positions that autocrats take on issues? Existing theories do not provide a clear answer to this question, but we often observe authoritarian governments using government media to frame policies in new ways when significant changes in policy positions are required. By conducting an experiment that exposes respondents to government-controlled media—in the form of TV news segments—on issues where the regime substantially changed its policy positions, we find that by framing the same issue differently, government-controlled media moves respondents to adopt policy positions closer to the ones espoused by the regime regardless of individual predisposition. This result holds for domestic and foreign policy issues, for direct and composite measures of attitudes, and persists up to 48 hours after exposure.

The Political Consequences of Indigenous Resentment

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Edana Beauvais
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
Using Data ◽  
White Settlers ◽  
Original Survey

Abstract Understanding the legacy of settler colonialism requires understanding the nature and scope of anti-Indigenous attitudes. But what, exactly, are the political consequences of anti-Indigenous attitudes? Answering this question requires recognizing that attitudes toward Indigenous peoples are distinct from White racial attitudes toward other disempowered groups. In this paper, I introduce a novel measure of Indigenous resentment. I then show that Indigenous resentment is an important predictor of policy attitudes using data collected from an original survey of White settlers. I estimate the effect of both Indigenous resentment and negative affect on policy attitudes—opposition to welfare and support for pipeline developments—to make the case that Indigenous resentment is a better measure of anti-Indigenous attitudes than affective prejudice, and that Indigenous resentment is an important omitted variable in the study of public opinion in settler societies.

Reinforcing Opinion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
George C. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Affordable Care Act ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Social Security Reform ◽  
National Defense ◽  
Partisan Identification

This chapter examines how the president benefits from motivated reasoning to reinforce and guide the opinions of those predisposed to support him. It first considers partisan identification as a primary anchor of political behavior and the basis for much motivated reasoning before discussing the link between motivated reasoning and presidential signaling. In particular, it explores how presidential signaling contributes to increasing overall public support for the president’s policies. It also analyzes public opinion about issues such as Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and immigration policy, George W. Bush’s Social Security reform, and Ronald Reagan’s national defense strategic modernization program that included the MX missile as well as his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Public opinion and public policy in the United States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saundra K. Schneider ◽  
William G. Jacoby
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Democratic Responsiveness ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Policy Field ◽  
The Relationship

In a properly-functioning democracy, public opinion should not only be correlated with, but also a major determinant of, public policy. Is that the case in the United States? In this chapter, we address that question by covering the major lines of empirical research on the relationship between American public opinion and public policy. We begin with early work that emphasized the limits of popular thinking about government, creating the apparent need for democratic elitism in governmental action. More recent literature includes perspectives from the public policy field, and research on democratic responsiveness at both the national and state levels. Major lines of work emphasize the existence of rational public opinion at the aggregate level which ‘smooths out’ the inconsistencies that may exist within individual policy attitudes. Seminal studies have considered both the degree of correspondence between opinion and policy (i.e., ‘the rational public’), and models that specify how policy responds to opinion (thermostatic responses and the macropolity). Recent methodological innovations have led to new insights about democratic responsiveness in the American states. Our general conclusion is cautiously optimistic: Policy generally does follow the contours of citizen preference, but elites also have opportunities to shape manifestations of public opinion.

How Dehumanization Influences Attitudes toward Immigrants

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 440-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Utych
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Immigration Attitudes ◽  
Original Experimental Data

Immigrants, as a group, are frequently described in ways, such as vermin or disease, that portray them as less than human. This type of dehumanizing language leads to negative emotional responses and negative attitudes toward the dehumanized group. This paper examines how the dehumanization of immigrants influences immigration policy attitudes. I use original experimental data to show that dehumanization leads to more negative immigration attitudes. I further find that these negative attitudes are mediated by the role of emotion. Dehumanization increases anger and disgust toward immigrants, which causes anti-immigrant sentiment.

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