Handbook on Politics and Public Opinion

by Thomas J. Rudolph (Editor)

Overview

Examining the nature of public opinion in democratic societies, this Handbook succinctly illustrates the importance of public opinion as an instrument of popular control and democratic accountability. Expert contributors in the field provide a thorough review of a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of this timely topic.

The concise but comprehensive chapters investigate the theoretical value of biological, contextual, psychological, sociological and economic perspectives when exploring public opinion. The Handbook also demonstrates useful insights that can be generated from quantitative or qualitative research designs from both an observational and experimental perspective. Furthermore, its informative assessment of the origins and structure of how public opinion is formed allows for a greater understanding of how policies are developed as a result.

Providing a state-of-the-art review, this Handbook will be an excellent study resource for scholars of public opinion in political science, sociology and psychology. Political practitioners, particularly government officials, political operatives and pollsters will also find this informative and illuminating.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800379602
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	08/03/2022
Series:	Elgar Handbooks in Political Science
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 9.62(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by Thomas J. Rudolph, Lincoln Distinguished Professorial Scholar and Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US

Table of Contents

Contents:

1 Public opinion and democracy 1
Thomas J. Rudolph

PART I THE MEANING AND MEASUREMENT OF PUBLIC OPINION
2 Diagnosing survey response quality 10
D. Sunshine Hillygus and Tina LaChapelle
3 The quantitative assessment of public opinion 26
Allyson L. Holbrook and Joanne M. Miller
4 The qualitative study of public opinion 41
Katherine J. Cramer
5 Implicit attitudes and mass political opinion 54
Efrén O. Pérez and Bianca V. Vicuña

PART II THE ORIGINS OF PUBLIC OPINION
6 Genopolitics 71
Gergő Závecz and Levente Littvay
7 Personality, public opinion, and politics 83
Megan L. Remmel and Jeffery J. Mondak
8 Political socialization 99
Marc Hooghe

PART III THE STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC OPINION
9 The conditional nature of ideology in mass publics 112
Nathan P. Kalmoe
10 Core values 128
Paul Goren
11 Ambivalence in mass politics 141
Marco Steenbergen
12 Partisanship and public opinion 168
Ianne S. Wang and Samara Klar
13 Race and public opinion: American dilemma, American divide 178
Davin L. Phoenix and Francisco Jasso
14 Public opinion and gender 193
Mary-Kate Lizotte
15 The religious politics of threat in religion and politics research 208
Paul A. Djupe

PART IV ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON PUBLIC OPINION
16 Electoral geography, political behavior and public opinion 224
James G. Gimpel and Andrew Reeves
17 Media effects and news exposure: new forms of data to address old questions 241
Susan Banducci, Laszlo Horvath, Ekaterina Kolpinskaya and Daniel Stevens
18 Affective polarization in the American public 257
James N. Druckman and Jeremy Levy

PART V THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PUBLIC OPINION
19 Heuristics and cues 272
Cheryl Boudreau
20 Emotions in politics: The relevance of groups 283
Bethany Albertson and Benjamin T. White
21 Motivated reasoning in politics 298
Eric Groenendyk

PART VI PUBLIC OPINION AND DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP
22 Political knowledge 313
Jennifer Wolak
23 Political tolerance in an age of liberal democratic backsliding 328
Mark Peffley and Robert Rohrschneider
24 New thrusts and new opportunities in the study of citizen performance
in democratic societies 341
James H. Kuklinski and Benjamin Miller

PART VII PUBLIC OPINION AND GOVERNMENT
25 The nature of political trust in mass publics 355
Marc J. Hetherington and Thomas J. Rudolph
26 On collective representation 369
Ross Buchanan, Megan Dias, and Christopher Wlezien
27 Courts and public opinion: a critical review 382
Brandon L. Bartels

PART VIII PUBLIC OPINION AND PUBLIC POLICY
28 Economic opinion 399
Spencer Goidel and Paul M. Kellstedt
29 Economic self-interest in public opinion about immigration 411
Morris Levy and Matthew Wright
30 Public opinion and foreign policy: beyond the “electoral connection” 428
Peter Gries and Tao Wang

Index

Editorial Reviews

‘In the face of widespread polarisation, democracies in retreat, and crises of global proportions, a need has arisen to explore the individual and societal causes, interactions, and implications of these profound developments. This impressively comprehensive Handbook addresses this challenging task by focusing on the central role of public opinion, leaving hardly any question unanswered.’

Sonja Zmerli

‘Two things make this volume entirely irresistible. The first is the line-up of quite prominent, well-versed, and insightful scholars contributing chapters, and the second is the breadth and depth of public opinion topics covered. I started reading this book by ticking off in the table of contents the chapters I wanted to read closely. I was then amazed to find that I had selected nearly all the chapters. This Handbook will prove invaluable for students of public opinion, including undergraduates, graduate students, and the professoriate.’

James Gibson