Suchergebnisse

Investigates sources of misperceptions about the proportion of Blacks, Hispanics, and Jews in the overall US population.

We look at economic voting during times of financial crisis using individual-level survey data from the 2008 and 2011 Canadian Election Studies. We posit that in times of crisis, the economy's impact on incumbent voting can be twofold. There is first an impact that is more traditional in nature and based on retrospective assessments of national economic conditions (which are necessarily bad given the crisis context). There is also an impact that is based on perceptions of the parties' competence at managing the economy. Depending on these perceptions, the competence effect can compensate for incumbent vote losses that might be incurred from bad economic times (traditional effect). In more general terms, looking at competence-based issue ownership allows us to add a neglected valence component to the economic voting model. Adapted from the source document.

While the causes of declining political trust have been investigated extensively in the literature, much less empirical effort has been devoted to the study of its behavioral implications. This article focuses on the decline of trust in Canada during the period 1984 to 1993, & on its effect on Canadian voting behavior. We build upon M. J. Hetherington's ('The Effect of Political Trust on the Presidential Vote, 1968-1996.' American Political Science Review 93 [1999]: 311-326) work to explore the impact of political trust on the vote & on abstention in a multiparty electoral context. Multinomial logit estimations are performed using individual-level survey data from three Canadian federal elections. While distrust is shown to significantly affect electoral participation, thus acting as an alienating factor, the results indicate that decreasing trust acts more as a motivation to support third-party alternatives. The study further demonstrates that, in a multiple party setting, 'old-line' major parties electorally suffer from declining political trust, but some third parties benefit more from this phenomenon than others. Contrary to what was the case in the previous two elections, distrustful individuals in 1993 were more likely to vote for the Reform Party or the Bloc Quebecois than support the New Democratic Party. 6 Tables, 1 Figure, 4 Appendixes, 65 References. Adapted from the source document.

The media have greatly changed electoral campaigns & modified conditions of political governance in Canada as elsewhere. One can see the political dynamic in democracy as a triangle of interaction between the elected, the electorate, & the media. Considered here is whether a decline in Canadian citizens' confidence in political institutions & politicians can be traced to an increasingly negative view of politics & an orientation toward partisan conflicts on the part of the media. These are serious grievances against the media, which are reproached for undermining the legitimacy of elected officials & exercising undue influence on their decisions as well as undermining public trust in the democratic system. Robert M. Entman (1989) writes "The press is supposed to enhance democracy both by stimulating the citizenry's political interest & by providing the specific information they need to hold government accountable." This article reviews the case against the media, examining the evidence produced to support the accusations, & concludes that the picture is neither rosy nor black but contains elements of both. It is hoped that the recommendations made here will prompt the media to adjust their focus & resume their responsibility to enhance the quality of democracy in Canada. J. Stanton

Examines media coverage of Prime Minister Kim Campbell, at the coronation, pre-campaign,and campaign periods, the evolution of Conservative support, and the impact of TV news on her image and on voter intentions.

Examines the electoral impact of economic perceptions, individual and structural political variables impacting the vote, the evolution of the vote in Quebec, and general voting behavior; since 1972, chiefly. Summary in English.

Examines Catholic and Protestant voting intentions, opinion on abortion, and support fgor unions and for military spending; also discusses effect of news media on these opinions; based on data from the 1988 Canadian Election Study.