Suchergebnisse

STUDIES OF MASS BELIEF SYSTEMS HAVE OFTEN PRODUCED DISPARAGING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE CONSISTENCY, COHERENCE, AND POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. THIS PAPER ARGUES THAT SUCH RESULTS TOO OFTEN REFLECT THE LIMITED WAYS IN WHICH RESEARCHERS ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY THE STRUCTURE OF CONSTRAINED BELIEF. IT ADAPTS LAWRENCE KOHLBERG'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT TO EXPLORE AN ALTERNATIVE MEASURE OF CONSTRAINT IN MASS BELIEF SYSTEMS AND SHOWS THAT MELVIN KOHN'S QUESTIONS ABOUT CHILDREARING VALUES YIELD A THEORETICALLY PLAUSIBLE, EMPIRICALLY RELIABLE MEASURE OF DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES. THIS MEASURE EXHIBITS BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VALIDITY AND DEMONSTRATES MARKED STABILITY OVER TIME. IT ALSO YIELDS PROVOCATIVE EMPIRICAL FINDINGS WHICH SUGGEST THE NEED FOR AN EXPANDED NOTION OF RATIONAL CONSTRAINT. THIS STUDY SUPPORTS THE CLAIM THAT FAILURE TO IDENTIFY A COGNITIVE STRUCTURE IN MASS BELIEF SYSTEMS OWES MORE TO LIMITED CONCEPTUALIZATION BY RESEARCHERS THAN TO EMPIRICALLY IDENTIFIED LIMITATIONS OF CITIZENS.

THE LATEST REVISIONISM IN THE STUDY OF POLITICAL TOLERANCE HAS PRODUCED SOME OF THE MOST PROVOCATIVE WELL-DESIGNED RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. IN PARTICULAR, THE WORK BY SULLIVAN, PIERESON, AND MARCUS OFFERS ONE OF THE MOST FULLY SPECIFIED AND RIGOROUSLY EXECUTED MODELS OF PUBLIC OPINION FORMATION. YET THIS CONTEMPORARY REVISIONISM IS FLAWED. THIS PAPER ARGUES THAT THESE RESEARCHERS MISCONCEPTUALIZE TOLERANCE, THAT THIS MISCONCEPTION CONTAMINATES THEIR MEASUREMENT PROCESS, THAT THE RESULTING MODEL IS MISSPECIFIED, AND THAT THE POLITICAL CONCLUSIONS OFFERED ARE NOT SUPPORTED IN FACT OR PRINCIPLE. MORE GENERALLY THIS PAPER ARGUES THAT THE FIELD OF PUBLIC OPINION AS A WHOLE HAS BEEN TRAPPED BY LIMITED CONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF COGNITIVE CONSTRAINT AND BY SIMPLISTIC AND INADEQUATE METHODS FOR MEASURING AND IDENTIFYING THIS CONSTRAINT. TO REMEDY THIS, A DEVELOPMENTAL MEASURE OF COGNITIVE MORAL STAGES IS FASHIONED ALONG LINES SUGGESTED BY KOHLBERG. THIS MEASURE SATISFIES A NUMBER OF TESTS FOR BOTH VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY AND APPEARS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL PREDICTORS OF TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE-IF NOT THE MOST POWERFUL SINGLE PREDICTOR.