Debates over the political sophistication of mass publics smolder on. The more fundamental question, however, is why people become as politically sophisticated or unsophisticated as they do. This paper develops a nonlinear simultaneous equation model to weigh explanations of three general sorts: the politicalinformation to which people are exposed, theirability to assimilate and organize such information, and theirmotivation to do so. The estimates suggest that interest and intelligence, representing motivation and ability, have major effects, but that education and media exposure, the big informational variables, do not. I consider the reasons and sketch some implications for the sophistication of mass publics, for the study of sophistication and other “variables of extent,” and for democratic theory.

Explaining political sophistication

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media20-year-old threatened ‘mass murder’ at MS church, cops American Government and Politics in the Information Age The Functions of the Mass MediaManufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Mass Media Hasten To Help Pentagon Exonerate Itself In Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass The Role of Mass Media in the World of Politics PHDessay.commass society | Britannica56 FREE Mass-media Worksheets Busy TeacherThe Impact of the Media – American GovernmentWaukesha Christmas parade mass murder coverage is low Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Political Agenda Setting and the Mass Media | Oxford China's Long Tentacles Extend Deep Into American Media Mass media in the United States WikipediaMental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of The 8 Worst Mass Murderers in American History – PJ Media14.2 Ethical Issues in Mass Media – Understanding Media What Is Mass Media? Definition, Types, Influence Yes, Media Bias Still Matters The American Spectator What is Mass Media? (with pictures) Info BloomThe Globalization of Politics: American Foreign Policy for Americans Remain Distrustful of Mass MediaThe New Press | Books to Change Minds About JusticeUnderstanding Mass Media and Mass CommunicationMass media WikipediaLinks: Cardinal Burke to celebrate Mass, Democrats need to 6.1 Political Culture – American Government and Politics Mass Murder By Mail The American Spectator | USA News The Paranoid Style in American Politics, by Richard Hofstadter

The Mass Media and American Politics: A Review Essay

Despite research to the contrary, the general public and a significant number of politicians are convinced the U.S. news media have a liberal and pro-Democratic bias. To understand why many people believe the media have such biases, this study tested whether such a perception is related to an observer's own partisan and ideological positions. Findings based on two large national surveys suggest that audiences' ideologies and partisanships affect how they view the media. Strong conservatives and Republicans are more likely to distrust the news media, whereas the best predictor of a media bias perception is political cynicism.

The Liberal Media Myth Revisited: An Examination of Factors Influencing Perceptions of Media Bias

This paper looks at representativeness in terms of policy dimensions As previous studies also have demonstrated, the analysis provides evidence that the level of policy agreement varies across policy domains The policy linkage is weak on questions of taxation and government administration Only on contemporary liberalism does the level of policy agreement begin to meet the standards of representational theory The occurrence of elections is found to be a particularly important determinant of legislative voting vis-a-vis constituency preferences California senators, elected for four-year terms, are undeniably unrepresentative to direct opinion during the first three years of their terms; representativeness increases dramatically during the final year Senators facing the possibility of having their reelection fortunes adversely affected by a presidential campaign are particularly attuned to district opinion during the final year of their terms Assemblymen, who are elected for two-year terms, are attuned to the wishes of their constituencies throughout their terms As the Founding Fathers believed, the frequency of elections conditions representatives' loyalty to the preferences of the represented

Representativeness and Elections: A Policy Analysis*

The use of attack messages in political campaign communication has grown in recent years. This investigation posits a strategy of resistance to the influence of attack messages. A total of 341 initial and follow-up treatment interviews and 392 control interviews were completed among potential voters in a U.S. Senate campaign during October 1986. We hypothesized that political campaign messages can be designed to inoculate supporters of candidates against subsequent attack messages of opposing candidates. This prediction was supported. In addition, the results supported the hypothesis that inoculation confers more resistance to subsequent attack messages among strong political party identifiers as opposed to weak identifiers, non-identifiers, and crossovers. The results of this investigation extend the scope of inoculation theory to new domain, and at the same time, suggest a new strategic approach for candidates in political campaigns.

/pdf/inoculation-in-political-campaign-communication-3q06hoger1.pdf

Inoculation in political campaign communication.

Presidential elections and the American political system. Part One: Citizens and elections. A framework for analyzing voting behavior. Party identification. The issue-voting controversy. Issues and candidates, 1952-1972. The Carter, Reagan and Bush elections, 1976-1988. Part Two: Candidates and elections. Elections: From citizens to candidates. The campaign financing, recruitment, and nomination of presidential candidates. The media and presidential politics. Running for president. Toward the future. Appendices. References. Bibliography. Name Index. Subject Index.

Presidential elections and American politics: Voters, candidates, and campaigns since 1952

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Presidential elections and American politics: Voters, candidates, and campaigns since 1952