Another Look at What Moves Public Opinion: Media Agenda Setting and Polls in the 2000 U.S. Election

This study examined two levels of media agenda effects on aggregatepublic opinion from different news sources. The effects wereinvestigated immediately and cumulatively. Content analysisdata from the 2000 U.S. presidential election coverage by fournational news organizations were related to the Gallup pre-electionpoll standings of each candidate. Regression analyses foundthat both the salience of a candidate and the salience of theattributes of a candidate cumulatively, but not immediately,influenced his standing in the polls. An analysis of news sourcessupported the finding that the two levels of agenda-settingeffects seemed mostly cumulative rather than immediate. Newsfrom different sources, however, tended to have effects of differentdegrees and sometimes different directions on candidate pollstandings. Cumulative effects of candidate salience on aggregateopinion change were found for non-partisan and neutral newssources—reporters, poll reporting and public documents—whereasthe effects of candidate attribute salience mostly came frompartisan sources—the candidate himself and members ofthe competing political party. Possible political implicationsof these findings are discussed.     

Jumping the Shark

What is the effect on media coverage of politics when political actors conform to market aspects of media logic by “jumping the shark”—staging dramatic political events to fit the demands of the media—thus reflecting what Strömbäck characterizes as the fourth phase of mediatization? Our paper answers this question with a large-scale, longitudinal analysis of how The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading national newspaper, covered 13 Canadian party leadership contests held between 1975 and 2012. We analyzed changes in the amount and style of reporting over the course of this 37-year time period, finding that the Globe has provided less coverage of party leadership competitions overall. The diminishing number of stories printed on the subject increasingly feature opinion writing, photos, combative language and the elevation of the individual candidate over the party organization. Our findings support a key element of the mediatization thesis: the shift from political logic to media logic as an organizing principle for political communications.     

Collective Efficacy, Support for Democratization, and Political Participation in Hong Kong

Public opinion studies have conventionally treated politicalefficacy as a two-dimensional concept involving internal andexternal efficacy. The former refers to people’s beliefsabout their individual abilities to understand politics, andthe latter refers to people’s beliefs about governmentresponsiveness. The present study reexamines and goes beyondthis two-dimensional view. It proposes that collective efficacy,defined as a citizen’s belief in the capabilities of thepublic as a collective actor to achieve social and politicaloutcomes, can be considered as a third dimension of politicalefficacy. Based on this three-dimensional view, the relationshipbetween political efficacy, support for democratization, andpolitical participation in Hong Kong is examined. Analysis ofa representative survey (N = 800) shows that both support fordemocratization and political participation are positively relatedto collective efficacy and negatively related to external efficacy.Internal efficacy, on the other hand, has only a limited relationshipwith the dependent variables, though high levels of internalefficacy are found to be a condition for collective and externalefficacy to exert stronger impact on political attitudes andbehavior. It is argued that two characteristics of the HongKong society—as a transitional society and a collectivistculture—contribute to the significance of collective efficacyin the public opinion process. But the relevance of collectiveefficacy to other contexts is also discussed.     

Katrin Doveling (2005). Emotionen--Medien--Gemeinschaft. Eine kommunikationssoziologische Analyse [Emotions--media--community. A study from the perspective of communication sociology]. Wiesbaden, Germany: VS Verlag, 340 pp., ISBN 3-531-14236-4.

‘Here is a book that makes you want to shout, "Finally!"’That is the opening sentence of a recent book review that theauthor of this review wrote for the International Journal ofPublic Opinion Research about Campaigning for Hearts and Minds:How Emotional Appeals in Political Ads Work by Ted Brader (2006).The remark refers to the fact that Brader’s book focuseson an issue that has thus far received very little attentionin the field of communication studies, or, for that matter,in the fields of political science or sociology, namely, themajor role emotions play in explaining collective behavior,social decisions, opinion formation and—especially inthe case at hand—the effects of media coverage on opinionformation. Now, in the form of Katrin Döveling’scomprehensive new     

Ambivalent Social Networks and Their Consequences for Participation

Does perceived disagreement in political discussion help orhinder citizens’ political participation? Some argue thatdisagreement prompts reflection, perspective-taking, and tolerance.Challengers argue that disagreement fosters ambivalence andhinders participatory activities and turnout. One seminal studythat tackled this dilemma formulated the ‘cross-pressures’hypothesis (Lazarsfeld, Berelson, & Gaudet, 1944/1968),which posited that the more individuals are betwixt and betweenconflicting social positions, the longer the time for theirvote intention to crystallize (and the lower the likelihoodthey would vote). This paper offers a critique and refinementof the cross-pressures hypothesis. First, previous studies confoundedintra-individual and structural sources of cross-pressures.Second, past operationalizations of exposure to disagreementfocused on the sheer amount of opposition to the individual’spoint of view, rather than his or her exposure to two conflictingpoints of view. A new measure—network ambivalence—isproposed to capture the latter dynamic. Conceptual and methodologicalrefinements of the cross-pressures hypothesis are tested ona representative sample of voting-age respondents in the UnitedStates, interviewed on the American National Election Study2000 panel (N=1,555). Results suggest that not only were thesepressures hardly detrimental to participation, but they alsofacilitated the formation of considered electoral preferences.     

Priming Effects of Late-Night Comedy

Having become fully integrated into the contemporary politicallandscape, infotainment-oriented media extend Americans’traditional news (e.g. newspaper, radio, and television) toinclude a greater number of sources for political information,and in some cases, political mobilization. Given the increasingprominence of infotainment-oriented media in contemporary politics,this study addresses the effects of one particular type of infotainment—late-nightcomedy—during the 2000 presidential campaign. Specifically,we are interested in whether watching late-night comedy showsinfluences viewers’ evaluations of the candidates whohave appeared on these shows; in particular, we investigatepriming as the mechanism by which such influences occur. Findingsfrom the 2000 National Annenberg Election Survey (N = 11,482)indicate that evaluations of candidates are based in part onrespondents’ sociodemographics, perceptions of candidatesto handle certain issues, and their character traits. Therewas a main effect of watching late-night comedy on evaluationsof candidates; more importantly, viewers were more likely thannonviewers to base their evaluations of George W. Bush on charactertraits after he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman.     

THE PRESS AND THE POLLS IN GERMANY, 1980-1994 POLL COVERAGE AS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN REPORTING

Since their beginnings pre-election polls have been under attackfrom politicians and journalists. One of the most fundamentalcriticisms of polls is that they can influence the outcome ofelections. This article investigates news media reporting ofpoll results and comments on public opinion research beforeFederal elections in Germany. It presents empirical findingsfor the quantity as well as the formal and substantial qualityof this press coverage. The database is a content analysis of443 pre-election poll articles published in Germany's leadingdailies Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Frankfurter Rundschau(FR), Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), and Die Welt (Welt) between1980 and 1994. The quantity of news media reporting of publicopinion polls has improved over the years. Now, poll storiesare a standard feature of German newspapers. The frequency ofreports depends on the conditions of each election—e.g.on the expected closeness of the election outcome. The formalquality could be better—that is the conformity to AAPORstandards. Horse-race journalism isn't found as often as inthe USA. Journalists often use poll results to predict an electionoutcome. Moreover, the analysis revealed an ambivalent relationshipbetween liberal journalists and polls, while the reporting ofconservative journalists is more in favor of opinion research.     

MEDIA INFLUENCES ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS: THEORY, METHOD, AND EVIDENCE

In this article the authors argue that studies of the influenceof the mass media on public support for presidential candidatesin primary elections should return to the social pyschologicalmodel of attitude change. This model should take into account,however, that in the real world, unlike laboratory settings,randomization and complete controls of variables are not possible,and rational and strategic choice considerations come into play,along with the cumulative effects of new information on aggregateopinion. The variables found to be relevant to attitude change,especially the characteristics of the communicator and the communication,have not been studied systematically in natural settings. Littleis known about how new information unrelated to electoral ‘momentum’affects the public's evaluations and support for candidates.A fuller explanation is needed of what are complex media influenceson candidate support in primary elections—including especiallythose messages conveyed through the media which tend to be distinctiveand most accessible to memory: information about the viabiltiyof candidates; positive messages and images conveyed directlyfrom the candidates themselves and (to a lesser extent) fromother major party leaders who support or oppose them; and, ofspecial theoretical importance, the ostensibly credible newscommentary about the candidates.     

Recent Articles in the Field of Public Opinion Research

In this section the International Journal of Public OpinionResearch reviews articles that have recently been publishedin peer-refereed journals and which broadly relate to the fieldof public opinion. The intention is not to give an exhaustiveoverview of a given study but rather to alert our readers tointeresting ideas and research in our field. For this issuethanks are due to Ken’ichi Ikeda (University of Tokyo)for help in compiling the reviews. Arai, Kiichiro (2006). A mechanism of political participation:Experience and evaluation. Review of Electoral Studies, 6, 5–24. This paper examines how citizens are engaged in political activities,with a focus on their experience of political participationand their evaluation of the experience. Using data from theJapanese Election and Democracy Study 2000 survey, an empiricalanalysis shows that people who positively evaluate their experienceof participating in political activity (such as helping election     

MEDIA TONE AND PUBLIC OPINION: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF MEDIA COVERAGE AND PUBLIC OPINION ON CHANCELLOR KOHL

This study investigates the relationship between media coverageof Helmut Kohl in seven leading German print media and the opinionsof the German general public about the politician between 1975and 1984. For the content analysis evaluative assessments aboutHelmut Kohl on six different dimensions of characteristics werecoded. The analysis of public opinion is based on 72 representativesurveys in which respondents expressed their evaluations ofthe politician. The two time series were compared by means ofcross-lagged correlations. The whole period was first examinedwith aggregations of three-months-intervals; then closer attentionwas paid to the time period since Helmut Kohl took office aschancellor on the basis of monthly intervals. In both cases,the results show that evaluation shifts in the media precedesimilar evaluation shifts in public opinion with a time lagof about three to six months for the whole period of investigation,and a somewhat shorter time lag for the time of his chancellorship.Evaluation shifts in the political magazines Der Spiegel andStern were more closely related to public opinion than evaluationshifts in the national dailies.     

THE GULF CRISIS: A BRITISH PERSPECTIVE

This paper presents the results of a relatively large numberof public opinion surveys conducted in Britain during the Gulfcrisis—August 1990 to February 1991—many at weeklyintervals. The questions detailed here not only dealt with publicattitudes to the crisis itself but on its impact on the perceptionof the superpowers and the Arab world; again comparative trends,stretching back for almost forty years. There is also a discussionof the Gulf crisis and the British domestic political situation—wouldthe so-called ‘Falklands effect’ of 1982-1983 bereplicated by a ‘Gulf effect’ in 1991? This collectionof surveys probably represents one of the largest databaseson the topic in Britain. The paper shows a fairly stable positionof public opinion during the crisis; an improvement in the imageof the United States but a deterioration in that of the SovietUnion; but no significant effect on the British domestic politicalscene.     

POPULARITY IN A FREEFALL: MEASURING A SPIRAL OF SILENCE AT THE END OF THE BUSH PRESIDENCY

This study measures a spiral of silence in the context of actualopinion change during President George Bush's popularity declinein one of his political strongholds. Willingness of voters topublicly express their opinions about Bush were analyzed overthree pre-election surveys (N = 1,800) sponsored by a prominentlocal newspaper in Orange County, California. Respondents wereasked whether or not they would be willing to be reinterviewedby a reporter and have their names and views published in thepaper. The hypothesis that Bush supporters would be less willingthan others to agree to be reinterviewed during the period inwhich the president's ratings were dropping sharply is supported.This trend was most in evidence at the beginning of the presidentialcampaign, when Bush's ratings were in the steepest decline.These findings indicate the importance of actual opinion shiftsin spiral of silence research, and suggest several issues forfuture research on opinion change.     

OPINION QUALITY IN PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH

In recent years, a number of new techniques have been developed—includingdeliberative polls and educational surveys—that attemptto gather measures of public opinion that is of higher quality(i.e. better informed or more deliberative) than that recordedin typical mass opinion surveys. This paper addresses severalgeneral sets of questions. What is meant by ‘quality’in public opinion? What criteria can be enumerated by whichthe quality of public opinion can be assessed? In grapplingwith these questions, the paper argues that conceptions of qualityin public opinion are inextricably bound to broader conceptionsof quality in democratic decision making, a complex processinvolving multiple phases and collective participants. In addition,a number of important contradictions and ambiguities underlieconceptions of quality in public opinion.     

THE IMAGE OF PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE

This paper examines the results of studies in Britain and Franceon the views of the two peoples towards public opinion surveys: — their experience of surveys — attitudes towards the concept of sample surveys — the accuracy of sample surveys — the publication of polls during election campaigns — exposure to news information — interest in survey data The results in the two countries were, to a substantial degree,similar and showed an underlying positive attitude towards publicopinion surveys. There are, however, a number of points to bearin mind, where more public relations and more public informationis required to improve public awareness of, and public acceptanceof, opinion surveys.     

Editorial

If the founders and editors of the International Journal ofPublic Opinion Research described the ideal spectrum of thejournal’s content, we would all very likely enumeratethe following five dimensions, usually in a comparative and/orinternational context: theories about the dynamics of publicopinion, methodological problems and developments, the roleof the news media in public communication, public opinion researchas a social and political problem, and public opinion data on     

THE CHALLENGES OF SURVEYING PUBLIC OPINION IN AN EMERGING DEMOCRACY

Based on interviews with political party officials and journalistsas well as a content analysis of election poll stories, thispaper discusses opinion polling in Ghana's emerging democracy.Highlighted in the discussion are the relevance of surveyingpublic opinion in a neo-democracy and the journalistic reportingof poll results. The paper describes the surveying of publicopinion in a political climate in transition from long historicalexperience of authoritarianism and dictatorship including aperiod of a ‘culture of silence’, to freedom ofexpression, as a challenge. In an examination of local ‘polls’conducted by newspapers during the 1996 presidential and parliamentaryelections, it characterizes those exercises as unscientificand inaccurate. Technical details about surveys were mostlymissing in the stories, suggesting lack of poll reporting knowledgeamong journalists as a major challenge. There is an attemptto address these challenges for the purpose of strengtheningthe enabling role of political polling and journalistic reportingof poll results in Ghana's new democracy. Adequate responsesto these challenges would, it is proposed, contribute to a scientificand an objective assessment of issues in political decision–makingincluding measuring voter support for political parties andcandidates.     

The Dynamics of Opinion Formation in Local Popular Referendums: Why the Dutch Always Say No

There is growing research on voting behavior in referendums.However, the dynamics of opinion formation in popular referendums,referendums initiated by the electorate to approve or rejectdecisions made by representative bodies, has not yet been studied.This is especially unfortunate as voting decisions in popularreferendums differ from those in other referendums in interestingways. Opinion formation can be a very dynamic process in popularreferendums, making the referendum campaign crucial. This paperstudies the dynamics of opinion formation in popular referendumsand relates them to particular characteristics of the campaignsand the issues at hand. Based on the literature, we consideredthe effects of the intensity of the yes and no campaigns, familiaritywith the issue, and partisan cues. Our study uses content analysisdata and data from public opinion surveys dealing with variouspopular referendums held in the Netherlands. The study revealedseveral factors that contributed to the volatility of opinionsin the referendum campaigns: the issue (new and did not fittraditional political schemes), lack of support from societaland community organizations for the position of the local authorities,and low profile campaigns on the part of local authorities.While some of these factors are general and may play a rolein referendums everywhere, some can be considered ‘typicallyDutch’, related to the characteristics of popular referendumsin the Netherlands and the country’s political system.     

Killing off the Competition

In August 1929, James W. Upton, Editor of the republican newspaper, Honesty, discovered that that Seán Lemass and Gerald Boland, the Secretaries of the Fianna Fáil party, had issued a circular to their members that blackballed Honesty and promoted the sales of The Nation, a publication that Fianna Fáil's leader, Éamon de Valera, had recently brought under his control. The event that triggered this action was Upton's decision to publish an article critical of the Fianna Fáil leadership, something Upton did in the interest of freedom of speech. Upton, who was sympathetic to the Fianna Fáil cause, dubbed Lemass and Boland, ‘the Dublin Junta’ and accused them of launching an underhand attack to further their own careers and party ambitions. Fianna Fáil retaliated in the pages of The Nation, declaring that Honesty was no longer a republican journal and thereby destroying Honesty's readership. An exploration of these events reveals political duplicity and a fundamental misfit between the views of a republican idealist and hardheaded professional politicians. Upton believed that republicanism without journalistic freedom was no republicanism at all, whilst Lemass and Boland focused on building a disciplined party machine intent on suppressing dissent, within and without of its ranks.     

The Political Consequences of Ambivalence: The Case of Democratic Reform in Hong Kong

Recent research has shown that attitudinal ambivalence has importantimplications on political attitudes and behavior. The conceptholds one of the keys to understanding complicated and seeminglycontradictory opinions of the public. This article examinesambivalence in public opinion regarding democratic reform inHong Kong. Analysis of a representative survey (N = 600) showsthat common citizens indeed have a significant degree of ambivalencetoward the government's political reform bill proposed in 2005.Regarding consequences, objective ambivalence is shown to havegreater predictive power than subjective ambivalence. The formerrelates negatively to attitude extremity and weakens the attitude–behaviorlinkage. However, contrary to the usual finding in the literature,objective ambivalence also relates positively to protest participationintention. The theoretical and social implications of the findingsare discussed. Received for publication June 29, 2007. Accepted for publication October 8, 2008.     

A Lost Decade? Laszlo Radvanyi and the Origins of Public Opinion Research in Mexico, 1941-1952

This article documents public opinion research activities inMexico in the 1940s and the role played by Hungarian professorLászló Radványi, who immigrated to thatcountry at the height of World War II. Our research relies onseveral of Radványi's publications archived in differentcountries, as well as on interviews with family, acquaintances,and experts on the work of his wife, the German poet Anna Seghers.During his years in Mexico, Radványi founded the ScientificInstitute of Mexican Public Opinion, in 1941, and the InternationalJournal of Opinion and Attitude Research, in 1947—a forefatherof today's IJPOR. He was also a founding member of WAPOR. Hisearly "sample surveys" raised important methodological issuesand recorded opinion results that reflect the vibrant timesof war and policy making in a modernizing country. However,Radványi's contribution to the profession has been virtuallyforgotten. Until now, accounts about how public opinion researchbegan in Mexico either ignored Radványi's works or reducedhis ten years of survey research to a single footnote. Thisarticle is an attempt to fill this enormous omission and highlightsome of Radványi's contributions to these early stagesof survey research.