Background: Political scientists have repeatedly argued that politicians' behaviour can be influenced by their beliefs about their constituents' ability to hold them accountable. Yet, how such accountability beliefs affect politicians' information processing or behaviour remains understudied. Aims and objectives: I investigate how accountability…

New communication technologies express the transformation of traditional communication technologies in parallel with technological development. New media tools, such as propaganda tools in political elections, have become widespread in recent years. The use of social media in political elections has gained significant importance in recent years.…

This article aims to identify how digital public opinion was articulated on Twitter during the visit of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to Mexico City in 2016 by invitation from the Mexican government, which was preceded by the threat to construct a border wall that Mexico would pay for. Using a mixed methodology made up of…

Due to its direct approach and its detailed analysis of race, the "A More Perfect Union" (AMPU) speech makes for a likely primary source to be included in a lesson addressing Obama's racial significance. As social studies teacher-educators who draw from critical perspectives on race and racism, the authors hope to see Obama's speech used…

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Statewide Survey provides policymakers, the media, and the public with objective, advocacy-free information on the perceptions, opinions, and public policy preferences of California residents. This is the 141st PPIC Statewide Survey in a series that was inaugurated in April 1998 and has generated a…

Four studies investigated whether political allegiance and salience of outgroup membership contribute to the phenomenon of acceptance of false, stigmatizing information (smears) about political candidates. Studies 1-3 were conducted in the month prior to the 2008 U.S. Presidential election and together demonstrated that pre-standing opposition to…

Obamamania has swept across college campuses. Students, it seems, are out campaigning, registering people to vote, singing the Democrat's praises far and wide. This article reports that a new poll of college students in four battleground states--Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania--conducted by CBS News, UWIRE, and "The…

With the dollar's continued swoon and grim news on the job front, American economic competitiveness has become a central theme in the presidential election. Stumping in Ohio and Pennsylvania, old-line industrial states hit hard by the flight of manufacturing jobs, Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have called for renegotiating the…

The author discusses how high school civics teachers can use the Gallup Poll Web site to teach students about the influence of public opinion in politics. The author describes his firsthand experiences using the Web site with high school students. He emphasizes the need for teachers to structure higher-level thinking questions instead of having…

Considers irony as rhetorical strategy in presidential campaigns. Argues that it promotes identification on the basis of public cynicism toward government, through which people transcend problems of government. Views irony in campaign rhetoric as the candidates' response to increasing levels of cynicism toward government. Concludes that candidates…

Examines whether news media were biased in coverage of the candidates during the 1996 United States Presidential campaign, and whether the quantity of positive and negative news coverage of the candidates was related to the public's preference. Finds balanced media coverage of the two principle candidates (Clinton and Dole) and a powerful…

Investigates the influence of negative advertising in political campaigns. Concludes that negative advertising reduces the image evaluation of the targeted politician. (SRT)

Explores the negative popular reaction to the 1988 Presidential Debates. Examines how these events function as ritualistic enactments of the <public trust>, thus providing a rhetorical legitimacy for the electoral process in a system dedicated to <popular sovereignty>. Suggests how the 1988 debates failed to satisfy that function. (MM)

A study examining voter responses to mug shots in newspapers found that they have a significant effect on a candidate's success in an election. The study was conducted after an Alton, Illinois, newspaper featured a full-page article on five candidates running for mayor, all but one of whom appeared dressed in a suit in a professional "mug…

A study examined the evaluative structures employed by voters in making decisions about political contenders, specifically as a function of the level of the election involved and the incumbent-challenger status of the candidates. Data were obtained by questionnaires administered within two weeks prior to the 1984 general election to 550…