Suchergebnisse

Using Center for Political Studies data from the 1972, 1976, 1980, 1982, & 1984 National Election Studies, the extent to which women identify with their gender group & are mobilized to vote as a bloc is assessed. Women tend not to identify with their gender in a political sense; hence a fundamental component to building a cohesive bloc is missing. Further, gender differences are narrowed or eliminated when race is controlled. 2 Tables, 34 References. HA

The authors summarize information about college students & plitical sience contained in a report compiled by the Higher Education Research Instit. The report includes data about the number of freshmen planning to major in political science, political disengagement among freshmen, & student attitudes about political & social issues, including abortion, the death penalty, & legalization of marijuana. Overall, the students' low interest in political science reflects the declining civic engagement in the US. 2 Tables, 37 References. A. Funderburg

This article explores the "video-malaise" thesis, which asserts that a combination of negative political coverage by the press & exposure to the media lead to political cynicism at the grass roots. Data from the 1996 National Election Study & a 1997 Pew Research Center poll show that the traditional video-malaise notion needs to be revised. Jaundiced views of government & of the media co-vary, raising the possibility that the public views both government & the media in the same vein. 1 Table, 68 References. Adapted from the source document.

Although scholars have long known that most Americans are woefully ignorant of foreign affairs (Almond 1960; Kriesberg 1949), they are uncertain about how the U.S. public's knowledge of international politics compares to that of people in other countries. We address this uncertainty with a study of citizens' knowledge of foreign affairs in five western democracies: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States. The focus is on the roles each country's mass media play in the process by which citizens learn about international politics. The study found that Germans are the most knowledgeable about international politics, citizens in Britain, Canada, and France displayed moderate knowledge, and Americans had the least knowledge. We conclude that people learn about foreign affairs due to their opportunity, defined by their location in the social structure, and their motivation, indexed by attention paid to news accounts of world politics. The better educated and more politically attentive citizens also proved to be more informed in each country, whereas citizens who most often watched popular television entertainment programs proved to be less informed about foreign affairs.