Combative Politics: The Media and Public Perceptions of Lawmaking

From the Affordable Care Act to No Child Left Behind, politicians often face a puzzling problem: although most Americans support the aims and key provisions of these policies, they oppose the bills themselves. How can this be? Why does the American public so often reject policies that seem to offer them exactly what they want?

By the time a bill is pushed through Congress or ultimately defeated, we've often been exposed to weeks, months—even years—of media coverage that underscores the unp...