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An important dimension of the future of fact is the status of political facts in research on public opinion. Analyzing the public's factual knowledge about public policy is central to addressing citizen competence yet more problematic than scholars have acknowledged. To show this, the authors first summarize a study of theirs that uses typical measures of citizens' information. In a survey of Illinois citizens, they measured factual perceptions about welfare policy. They found that citizens are not only uninformed about welfare but often misinformed—confident in erroneous perceptions. Such misinformation apparently has significant effects on attitudes toward welfare. The authors then consider some conceptual difficulties in research on citizens' information about policy. If the purpose is to ascertain how much information citizens possess, then the researcher must stipulate the relevant facts about an area of policy. But political facts are in large part politically determined, and the researcher often cannot identify precisely what the true and relevant facts are. Finally, the authors suggest a research approach in which citizens, in effect, choose the relevant facts themselves.

Over 100 years ago, juvenile courts emerged out of the belief that juveniles are different from adults—less culpable and more rehabilitatable—and can be "saved" from a life of crime and disadvantage. Today, the juvenile justice system is under attack through increasing calls to eliminate it and enactment of statutes designed to place younger offenders in the adult justice system. However, little evidence exists that policy makers have taken the full range of public views into account. At the same time, scholarly accounts of calls to eliminate the juvenile justice system have neglected the role of public opinion. The current study addresses this situation by examining public views about 1) abolishing juvenile justice and 2) the proper upper age of original juvenile court jurisdiction. Particular attention is given to the notion that child‐saving and "get tough" orientations influence public views about juvenile justice. The analyses suggest support for the lingering appeal of juvenile justice among the public and the idea that youth can be "saved," as well as arguments about the politicization and criminalization of juvenile justice. They also highlight that the public, like states, holds variable views about the appropriate age of juvenile court jurisdiction. We discuss the implications of the study and avenues for future research.Why is it not just and proper to treat these juvenile offenders, as we deal with the neglected children, as a wise and merciful father handles his own child whose errors are not discovered by the authorities? Why is it not the duty of the state, instead of asking merely whether a boy or a girl has committed a specific offense, to find out what he is, physically, mentally, morally, and then if it learns that he is treading the path that leads to criminality, to take him in charge, not so much to punish as to reform, not to degrade but to uplift, not to crush but to develop, to make him not a criminal but a worthy citizen.

Introduction / Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Gunter Thielen -- Council statement: migration, public opinion and politics / Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Annette Heuser -- German public opinion on immigration and integration / Oya S. Abalı -- America's views of immigration: the evidence from public opinion surveys / Roberto Suro -- The politics of immigration and the (limited) case for new optimism: perspectives from a political pollster / Jeremy D. Rosner -- Immigrating from facts to values: political rhetoric in the US immigration debate / Drew Westen -- Political rhetoric in the Netherlands: reframing crises in the media / Maarten Hajer and Wytske Versteeg -- British attitudes to immigration in the 21st century / Ben Page -- A commentary on public attitudes on immigration: the United Kingdom in an international context / Ayesha Saran -- The evolution of German media coverage of migration / Gualtiero Zambonini -- Promoting stalemate: the media and US policy on migration / Roberto Suro -- The media and migration in the United Kingdom, 1999 to 2009 / Terry Threadgold -- The future of migration and integration policy in Germany / Rita Süssmuth and Christal Morehouse -- Memo to President Obama regarding immigration policy / Frank Sharry -- Future immigration patterns and policies in the United Kingdom / Will Somerville -- A commentary on integration and belonging in the United Kingdom -- Alessandra Buonfino -- A commentary on global migration and modern regulation / Shamit Saggar -- Council statement: migration, public opinion and politics / Transatlantic Council on Migration

Do economic sanctions turn the public against the target government or cause it to rally around the flag? How do sanctions affect attitudes toward the sanctioner? How does bad economic performance under sanctions shape support for the target government? Despite their importance, these questions have rarely been explored with survey data. Results from two surveys in Russia find that exposure to information about economic sanctions does not generate a rally around the flag, leads some groups to withdraw support from the target government, and reduces support for the sanctioner. Respondents also react more strongly to the reasons why sanctions were put in place—the annexation of Crimea—than to the sanctions themselves. These results suggest the need to reevaluate theories of the impact of economic sanctions and blame-shifting under autocracy.

An examination of the role of self-interest in shaping attitudes toward smoking restrictions & cigarette taxes, based on interview survey data from 2 random samples of Calif adults (N not specified) collected by the Field Instit in Feb 1984 & Apr 1987. Analysis indicates that nonsmokers are far more enthusiastic about tightening smoking restrictions & increasing cigarette taxes than smokers, particularly heavy smokers. Explanations for the apparent discrepancy between these results & the pattern of null findings characteristic of the self-interest literature are considered. 5 Tables, 1 Appendix, 37 References. Modified AA

Women form a large part of the voting public in India. In the 2009 Indian National Election post-election survey, 82% of all adult women surveyed reported voting, but only 32% said that they were interested in politics. The paradox between high female turnout but low levels of interest has been noted in multiple developing country contexts, but the phenomenon is under-theorized. We suggest the reason is that women's ideas (interest in politics) are discouraged and suppressed by societal patriarchal norms enforced in the household, but women's bodies (their votes) are valued in competitive elections. We illustrate our argument using matched samples from two rounds (2009 and 2014) of the Indian National Election Survey and an original post-election survey in 2019. We find that women are consistently less likely to report either an interest in politics, or an opinion on political issues, if their spouse or an adult family member observes the interview. Our findings suggest that women's political agency is systematically under-estimated by researchers, and that women are more likely to assert themselves politically in survey contexts, if given the privacy to do so.