Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Dynamic American Ethos: Value Conflict and Racial Policy Preferences

小行星9423125 这个博士论文研究支持解决的问题：为什么在某些时候，美国公众赞成政府采取行动，以促进种族平等，而在其他时候，公众反对这样的行动？ 现有的种族态度理论无法解释自由主义和保守主义之间的这种摇摆。 论文的学生将提出一个舆论理论，可以解释这种变化随着时间的推移。 它的前提是大多数公民在公共政策问题上感到价值冲突，对大多数问题的双方都表示同情。 这些“相互竞争的考虑”的平衡被各种各样的个人和情境力量所打破。 其中，国家媒体在价值观的背景下框定政治问题，成为解释长期宏观舆论运动的关键。 随着媒体对问题的框架随着时间的推移而变化，就像在种族问题上一样，那么个人头脑中相互竞争的考虑因素的平衡也会发生变化，因此总体上政策偏好的平衡也会发生变化。 具体而言，当国家媒体在平等主义的背景下报道种族问题时，公众更喜欢一个更积极的政府来促进平等。 相反，当媒体用个人主义的语言来报道时，公众对这种政府活动的热情就会降低。 公众舆论的这些转变，它认为，导致公共政策的变化，这反过来又对黑人和白人之间的相对平等产生重大影响。 本文采用纵向设计进行测试，其中种族民意是从现有的调查材料中测量的，媒体框架是通过内容分析挖掘的，其他合理的影响包括完整的模型规范。 ***

9423125 Stimson This Doctoral Dissertation Research Support addresses the question: Why at some times, does the American public favor governmental action to promote racial equality, whereas at other times, the public opposes such action? Existing theories of racial attitudes cannot account for such swings between liberalism and conservatism. The dissertation student will propose a theory of public opinion that can explain such variation over time. It begins with the premise that most citizens feel value conflict on issues of public policy, sympathizing with both sides of most issues. The balance of these "competing considerations" is tipped by a variety of personal and situational forces. Among these the national media, which frame political issues in the context of values, become the keys to accounting for over time macro movements of opinion. As the media's framing of issues changes over time, as it did in the case of race, then so will the balance of competing considerations in the minds of individuals, and hence the balance of policy preferences in the aggregate. Specifically, when the national media frame their coverage of racial issues in the context of egalitarianism, the public comes to prefer a more active government to promote equality. In contrast, when the media frame their coverage in the language of individualism, the public becomes less enthusiastic about such government activity. These shifts in public opinion, it is argued, lead to changes in public policy, which in turn have significant consequences for relative equality between blacks and whites. The thesis is tested in a longitudinal design where racial public opinion is measured from existing survey materials, media framing is tapped by content analysis, and other plausible influences are included for full model specification. ***