Suchergebnisse

Examines trends in public opinion toward crime, the police, & civil liberties issues regarding criminal justice, 1980-1997. Growing support for punishment, particularly capital punishment for convicted murderers & "three strikes" laws that have raised the incarceration rate is discussed. It is shown how, while broad public approval of community policing is evident, examination of 1985-1990 General Social Survey data reveals differences in support for various measures of crime control (wiretapping, surveillance, overnight detention of suspects, opening suspects' mail) in the general public, particularly in terms if crime control vs protecting civil liberties. While lawyers' views are more strictly civil libertarian than the general public, these differences are deemed not as great or consistent as generally thought & vary according to the case. 1 Appendix, 21 References. T. Arnold

Aside from the much‐analyzed State of the Union addresses and other major speeches, existing research tells us little about which issues presidents emphasize in their public rhetoric, how they do it, why, and with what effects. This article closely analyzes the public rhetoric of Richard Nixon over his entire presidency. The first section catalogs key characteristics of Nixon's rhetoric that confirm central expectations of the modern "public presidency" including the tendency of the "rhetorical presidency" toward oral rather than written formats, the orientation of "going public" by primarily addressing the general public rather than elite audiences, and a "two‐presidency" tilt toward emphasizing foreign over domestic policy. In addition, the article uses the month‐to‐month variations in the amount and content of presidential rhetoric to examine two hypotheses—that presidential rhetoric is a strategic tool that presidents use to affect real‐world events (rhetoric‐driven events) and that rhetoric is cast about by the winds of the world (event‐driven rhetoric). Despite the impression in some presidential studies that presidents are primarily movers of events, our findings offer substantial support for the event‐driven rhetoric hypothesis and only some evidence of the rhetoric‐driven event hypothesis.

Forschungen über den amerikanischen Kongress und die öffentliche Meinung haben ein Paradoxon ergeben: während der öffentlichen Meinung großer Einfluß auf das Gesamtverhalten des Kongresses bestätigt werden kann,ist im Gegenzug der Einfluß auf einzelne Mitglieder des Kongresses und ihr politisches Verhalten eher als gering zu bezeichnen. Am Beispiel der Gesundheitsreform von 1993 und 1994 wird deutlich gemacht, das diese Diskrepanz vor allem erklärt werden kann durch die unterschiedlichen Interessen und Ziele der führenden Mitglieder des Kongresses. Das Streben nach gemeinsamen Zielen - etwa einer starken Partei oder einem mehrheitlichen Parteistatus - hat dabei größeres Interesse an der öffentlichen Meinung als einzelne Interessen der Kongressmitglieder (SWP-Fnk)

The relationship between unemployment & subjective well-being in social democratic, conservative, & liberal welfare state regimes is investigated. Three hypotheses are tested: (1) Citizens in social democratic regimes perceive unemployment as less threatening than in liberal & conservative regimes. (2) Citizens in social democratic governments demonstrate greater support for state intervention against unemployment. 3) Unemployment will affect citizens' subjective well-being less in social democratic regimes. National & international data, 1972-1996, somewhat support hypotheses 2 & 3; however, no evidence was discovered to support hypothesis 1. It is concluded that the microfoundations of welfare state regime typologies, particularly that introduced by Gosta Esping-Andersen (1990), are problematized by the study's results; consequently, analyses of welfare state regimes should privilege public views, attitudes, & behavior. 7 Tables, 2 Figures, 42 References. Adapted from the source document.