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Major polls all report that "trust in government is at an all-time low" in the United States. At the same time, polarization is at an all-time high. Hetheringon and Rudolph's timely book demonstrates a direct link between polarization and the decline of political trust in America. And it's not just legislators and party leaders who are polarized, but ordinary Americans. Drawing on a cornucopia of evidence and data, the authors show that since the early 2000s polarization in the electorate has increasingly been rooted not in ideological or policy differences, but, for the first time, in extremely negative feelings toward the other party. To an unprecedented degree, Republicans and Democrats s...
Examining the nature of public opinion in democratic societies, this Handbook succinctly illustrates the importance of public opinion as an instrument of popular control and democratic accountability. Expert contributors in the field provide a thorough review of a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of this timely topic.
We seem to be living in an age of citizen distrust of social and political elites. Distrust is also seen to have numerous negative consequences for our civic and democratic life. Yet are western democracies really facing a crisis of trust? This book provides an extensive and up-to-date review of one of the most important topics in contemporary political life. It explores the nature and condition of trust today by exploring three key issues. What do we mean by trust? How far are levels of trust in decline? How damaging are the consequences of low trust for effective democratic governance? Seyd also considers how trust arises, and which factors might explain the declines in trust witnessed recently in many countries. Providing evidence from many countries, Trust: How Citizens View Political Institutions pays particular attention to Britain, which has seen a marked decline in public regard for political elites, making the country a vital case for identifying the causes and effects of low trust. Combining conceptual and empirical analysis, the book provides a timely analysis of a central issue in contemporary political debate.
Millions of Americans—including many experienced politicians—viewed Barack Obama through a prism of high expectations, based on a belief in the power of presidential persuasion. Yet many who were inspired by candidate Obama were disappointed in what he was able to accomplish once in the White House. They could not understand why he often was unable to leverage his position and political skills to move the public and Congress to support his initiatives. Predicting the Presidency explains why Obama had such difficulty bringing about the change he promised, and challenges the conventional wisdom about presidential leadership. In this incisive book, George Edwards shows how we can ask a few ...
Providing an in-depth analysis of public opinion, beginning with its origins in political socialization, the impact of the media, the extent and breadth of democratic values, and the role of public opinion in the electoral process, American Public Opinion goes beyond a simple presentation of data to include a critical analysis of the role of public opinion in American democracy.