Social Movements and Public Discourse: Comparative Study of Discourse Construction in Germany and the United States

9310617 Ferree这是一项关于德国和美国关于堕胎问题的公共话语的研究，考察了它在过去30年中是如何转变的。堕胎问题将被用来发展和检验更广泛的公共话语理论，以及社会运动可能影响公共话语的条件。堕胎问题在国家之间和在一段时间内在两个主要的利益变量上有很大的不同：(A)大众媒体话语中反映的两极分化程度和(B)社会运动行为者在塑造它方面相对于政党和其他机构行为者的相对影响力。采用的主要方法是一段时间以来报纸和其他大众媒体来源的内容分析，以及内容分析和线人访谈相结合的方法，这些发言人提倡一种特定的解释或制定堕胎问题的方式。研究设计将使用共同的研究工具和跨国团队收集数据。这一项目将大大有助于科学地理解大众传媒和社会运动如何相互作用，形成公众对重大社会问题的看法。因为它关注的是一个在德国和美国发展得截然不同的重要争议，它将有助于了解这两个社会之间的差异，并提供对未来面临争端的政策制定者有价值的见解。***

9310617 Ferree This is a study of public discourse on the issue of abortion in Germany and the United States, examining how it shifted over the past 30 years. The issue of abortion will be used to develop and test a broader theory of public discourse and the conditions under which social movements are likely to influence it. The abortion issue provides significant variation between countries and over time on two major variables of interest: (a) the degree of polarization reflected in mass media discourse and (b) the relative influence of social movement actors compared to political parties and other institutional actors in shaping it. The primary methods employed are content analysis of newspapers and other mass media sources over time and a combination of content analysis and informant interviews with spokespersons who have promoted a particular interpretation or way of framing the abortion issue. The research design will employ common research instruments and cross-national teams in data collection. This project will contribute significantly to scientific understanding of how the mass media and social movements interact to shape public perceptions of major social issues. Because it focuses on an important controversy that has developed quite differently in Germany and the United States, it will contribute to knowledge about the differences between these societies and provide insights that will be valuable to policy-makers confronting future disputes. ***