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In this study, the authors test for the presence of bias during Fox News and CNN's coverage of the 2004 national party conventions. The content analysis demonstrates that Fox News's coverage was more favorable to the Republican Party than it was to the Democratic Party, while CNN's coverage was more impartial. The authors also use panel data from the National Annenberg Election Survey to show how opinion change toward the 2004 presidential candidates was associated with exposure to cable television coverage of the national party conventions. These findings highlight the evolving role of the cable news media in presidential campaigns and elections. Adapted from the source document.

The intersection of public policy and public opinion has fostered the development of an extensive body of scholarly literature. Much of the research strives to disentangle the relationship between policy and opinion. For this rich area of study to continue to flourish, it is imperative that innovations in public opinion are grasped and utilized. In this essay, I synthesize the most significant advances made to policy related public opinion research in the last few years. Although debates from previous decades persist, theoretical and methodological advances lead to an increased comprehension of the nuances and complexities of the relationship between public opinion and policy. Adapted from the source document.

In the early modern Low Countries, literary culture functioned on several levels simultaneously: it provided learning, pleasure, and entertainment while also shaping public debate. From a ditty in Dutch sung in the streets to a funeral poem in Latin composed to be read for or by intimate friends, from a play performed for a prince to a comedy written for pupils – literary texts and performances often dealt with highly controversial topics of religion or politics, on a local or national, but also on a supranational scale. This volume sets out to analyse the role and function of literary culture in the formation of early modern public opinion, and proposes ways in which a modern scholar might approach early modern works of literature and other traces of literary culture to explore early modern public opinion making. The cases presented in this volume bring the Dutch and Latin literary cultures of the Low Countries in the focus of international debates on the history of public opinion.

We analyze data from a national sample of the U.S. population to assess public support for policies that deny former offenders' access to job training programs, food stamps, and public housing. We find that Americans generally oppose benefit restrictions, though support for these policies is higher among Republicans and people with higher levels of racial resentment. We also find that a legislator's criminal justice reform positions generally do not significantly affect voters' evaluation of him or her, and even voters with more punitive attitudes toward collateral consequence policies support legislators who advance particular kinds of reform proposals. These findings provide little evidence that any group of Americans would be mobilized to vote against a legislator who works to reform collateral consequence policies. We discuss the implications of these findings for American and comparative studies of the politics of punishment.

AbstractDo events irrelevant to politics, such as the weather and sporting events, affect political opinions? A growing experimental literature suggests that such events can matter. However, extant experimental evidence may over-state irrelevant event effects; this could occur if these studies happen to focus on particular scenarios where irrelevant event effects are likely to occur. One way to address this possibility is through replication, which is what we do. Specifically, we replicate an experimental study that showed the outcome of a college football game can influence presidential approval. Our results partially replicate the previous study and suggest the impact is constrained to a limited set of outcome variables. The findings accentuate the need for scholars to identify the conditions under which irrelevant effects occur. While the effects clearly can occur, there relevance to politics remains unclear.

THE BANDWAGON WAS THE CARAVAN IN A CIRCUS THAT CARRIED THE BAND, AND USUALLY TOOK THE LEAD IN A PROCESSION. IT HAS COME TO STAND AS A SYMBOL FOR A PARTY OR A CAUSE WHICH IS SUCCESSFUL; WE TALK OF PEOPLE WANTING TO CLIMB ON TO A BANDWAGON WHEN THEIR DESIRE TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE WINNING PARTY OR CAUSE IS STRONG. A 'BANDWAGON EFFECT' IS THE LABEL GIVEN BY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS TO A SITUATION WHERE THE INFORMATION ABOUT MAJORITY OPINION ITSELF CAUSES SOME PEOPLE TO ADOPT THE MAJORITY VIEW FOR WHATEVER REASON; CONVERSELY, AN 'UNDERDOG' EFFECT IS HELD TO EXIST IF THE INFORMATION CAUSES SOME PEOPLE TO ADOPT A MINORITY VIEW. PROCESSES OF THIS KIND ARE OF THEORETICAL INTEREST BECAUSE THEY AFFECT THE POSSIBLITY OF STABLE PREDICTION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES; IF THE VERY ACT OF PREDICTING THAT ONE PARTY WILL WIN AN ELECTION CAN BE A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY1 THEN THE NATURAL SCIENTIFIC MODEL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES MAY BE COMPROMISED. BANDWAGON PROCESSES ARE ALSO OF PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE TO POLLSTERS, SINCE THE PROFESSIONAL NATURE OF THEIR TRADE MIGHT ALSO BE COMPROMISED IF THEIR PREDICTIONS COULD BE SHOWN TO BE INTERFERING IN POLITICAL REALITY. THESE EFFECTS HAVE THEREFORE RECEIVED A FAIR AMOUNT OF ATTENTION IN THE LITERATURE. THE MAIN CONTEXT STUDIED HAS BEEN THE EFFECT OF EXPOSURE TO AN OPINION POLL ON THE GENERAL PUBLIC. IN THIS ARTICLE. I SHALL FIRST EXAMINE THE EXISTING EVIDENCE FOR POLL EFFECTS OF THIS KIND, AND THEN PRESENT AND DISCUSS A STUDY OF SUCH EFFECTS.