United States Public Response to Terrorism: Fault Lines or Bedrock?

In: The review of policy research: RPR ; the politics and policy of science and technology ; journal of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, Band 22, Heft 5, S. 599-623

Abstract

We test traditional assumptions about the volatility of mass opinion in times of national crises using data about views of terrorism from national surveys of the United States general public in 1995 & 1997, findings from a national survey immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), & panel data from a follow-up survey in 2002. We compare public assessments of the threat of terrorism, willingness to restrict speech to prevent terrorism, support for employing conventional military force against countries that support terrorism, & levels of certainty about culpability required prior to using military force. Results show stable & measured public views prior to 9/11, immediately following the events of that date, & in the subsequent year. Our findings support democratic & modernist theories of public capacities while challenging long-standing traditional precepts about widespread volatility of mass public opinion. Tables, Figures, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.