Issue Publics Gone Wild Or The End Of Narrow Interests

Issue public theory holds that individuals are more likely to base political judgments, such as the decision of who to vote for on election day, on issues that are particularly important to them. This subset of issues is presumed to be relatively small in quantity for most individuals, allowing them to specialize in information gathering and attention. There is reason to believe the nature of issue publics has significantly changed in recent years as a result of profound shifts in the information environment. Many of the traditional findings within the literature are reassessed using data primarily from the 2008 Presidential election. Though significant changes are found, they do not, as theorized, represent a strengthening of issue publics within society. If anything, people appear to emphasize a larger array of issues today than ever before and rely no more heavily upon important issues than unimportant ones in their voting decision. Evidence is found, though, for a mediating role of the particular form of media the individual engages in.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. in Political Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Bowen, Michael Calton

Contributors dc:contributor

• Robert Brown
• Jonathan Winburn
• Michael Henderson

• Internet
• Issue Public
• Issue Voting
• Salience
• Political Science

Repository record dc:identifier

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/778

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-1777