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This article compares the emergence of consumer protection as an issue on the public policy agendas of Britain and the United States in the 1960s. Similar forces caused the emergence of consumer protection in both cases. Governmental responses to consumer protection issues also have been similar, but distinctive features of each country's political system are evident as well. The analysis draws upon existing consumer protection literature for each country as well as the author's interviews with a number of Britons involved in this policy area. The principal conclusion is that consumer protection gained each country's policy agenda as a discretionary item. Events of the past few years demonstrate that it is not yet a durable agenda item in either case.

Americans allegedly have an aversion to battle-related military casualties. Their estimates of military deaths may have influenced support for past U.S. military efforts. But what affects accurate estimates of military deaths in wartime? We review the accuracy of estimates for Iraq and three twentieth-century conflicts, finding that the public's estimates were more likely to be on target for Iraq. Then using five polls from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, we estimate logistic regression equations in which knowledge of military deaths is regressed on variables typically employed when scholars seek to understand the factors that affect what people know about public affairs. Gender and age always emerge as significant predictors. Education and attention to the news usually matter as well. We also show that estimates of military deaths in Iraq have palpable consequences for opinions about U.S. policies there. Adapted from the source document.

Americans allegedly have an aversion to battle-related military casualties. Their estimates of military deaths may have influenced support for past U.S. military efforts. But what affects accurate estimates of military deaths in wartime? We review the accuracy of estimates for Iraq and three twentieth-century conflicts, finding that the public's estimates were more likely to be on target for Iraq. Then using five polls from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, we estimate logistic regression equations in which knowledge of military deaths is regressed on variables typically employed when scholars seek to understand the factors that affect what people know about public affairs. Gender and age always emerge as significant predictors. Education and attention to the news usually matter as well. We also show that estimates of military deaths in Iraq have palpable consequences for opinions about U.S. policies there.

The 2004 European Parliament (EP) elections were marked by continued decline in voter turnout and wide variation in turnout levels among the member states. The addition of 10 new members for the 2004 election results presents a unique opportunity to test established explanations of turnout in EP elections. The authors re-examine models developed from general participation studies and applied in earlier research on turnout in EP elections. The updated and revised analysis continues to point to the importance of both national and European Union—level influences in explaining EP election turnout. Thus, although the second-order model of European elections still holds considerable appeal, the increasing divergence of turnout patterns in 2004 and through time suggests that European issues may be important in some countries.