Description
Book SynopsisDevelops a theory of response variability that, by reconciling the strengths and weaknesses of the standard approaches, that helps pollsters and scholars resolve perennial problems. This work offers an analysis of what a respondent is likely to choose, and also how variable those choices would be under differing circumstances.
Trade Review"A provocative and important statement about the nature and functioning of mass opinion... Alvarez and Brehm bring a sophisticated methodological arsenal to bear on enduring questions of public opinion. They have produced an invaluable study of the structural underpinnings of political attitudes, one that is deserving of serious consideration from a broad range of social scientists."--Howard Lavine, Perspectives on Politics
Table of ContentsList of Figures vii List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1: A Fickle Public? 1 PART 1 :THEORY AND METHODS 13 Chapter 2: Predispositions 15 Chapter 3: Why Does Political Information Matter? 27 Chapter 4: Ambivalence, Uncertainty, and Equivocation 52 PART 2: MASS PUBLIC OPINION 65 Chapter 5: Ambivalent Attitudes: Abortion and Euthanasia 67 Chapter 6: Uncertainty and Racial Attitudes 100 Chapter 7: Equivocation 125 PART 3 : MASSES AND ELITES 149 Chapter 8: Mass Opinion and Representation 151 Chapter 9: Do Elites Experience Ambivalence Where Masses Do Not? 194 Chapter 10: Politics, Psychology, and the Survey Response 216 Notes 225 References 233 Index 243
