Despite the number of academics, journalists, and political professionals who engage in the study of American political opinion, there is little consensus among these groups about its study, use, or nature. This has led to a flowering of diversity in the field - diversity of concepts and theories, diversity of questions, and diversity of methods.

The second edition of Understanding Public Opinion introduces new, classroom-friendly essays that capture this diversity, and highlight the many approaches that social scientists use to explore and explain public opinion. These 15 contributions will expose your students to innovative and original research while showing how the sources, content, and consequences of public opinion in the United States continue to evolve.

With the combined efforts of twenty-five recognized experts, students will get a flavor for the range of public opinion research with such topics as reactions to political advertising, trust in local government, economic issues in presidential elections, and a comparative look at public support for transitions to democracy in Post-Soviet states. The ideal supplement, Understanding Public Opinion, Second Edition, expands on the established topics of any public opinion course, fleshing out important ideas that basic texts can only cover briefly.

Contributors: Alan I. Abramowitz and Kyle L. Saunders; Henry E. Brady, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Laurel Elms; Paul R. Brewer; Allison Calhoun-Brown; Shanto Iyengar and Markus Prior; William G. Jacoby; John R. Hibbing; Kathleen McGraw; William Mishler and Richard Rose; John Mueller; Wendy Rahn and Tom Rudolph; Virginia Sapiro; Paul Sniderman and Ted Carmines; Carole Uhlaner and Chris Garcia; Clyde Wilcox and Barbara Norrander

Tables and Figures
Contributors
Preface

Introduction: The Diverse Paths to Understanding Public Opinion, Clyde Wilcox and Barbara Norrander

Part 1. THE CAUSES OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES

1. It's the Context, Situation, and Question, Stupid: The Gender Basis of Public Opinion. Virginia Sapiro

2. Giving Advertising a Bad Name: The Effect of Political As on CommercialAdvertising, Shanto Iyengar and Markus Prior

3. This Side of Jordan: Black Churches and Partisan Political Attitudes, Allison Calhoun-Brown

4. Latino Public Opinion, Carole Uhlaner and Chris Garcia

Part 2. ISSUE ATTITUDES

5. The Structure of Racial Attitudes: Issue Pluralism and the Changing American Dilemma, Paul Sniderman and Ted Carmines

6. Of Moods and Morals: The Dynamics of Opinion on Abortion and Gay Rights, Clyde Wilcox and Barbara Norrander

7. American Foreign Policy and Public Opinion in a New Era: EEleven Propositions, John Mueller

Part 3. ORGANIZATION OF ATTITUDES

8. Core Values and Political Attitudes, William G. Jacoby

9. Ideological Realignment and U.S. Congressional Elections, Alan I. Abramowitz and Kyle L. Saunders

Part 4. ELECTORAL CONNECTIONS

10. Who Bowls? The (Un)Changing Stratification of Participation, Henry E. Brady, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Laurel Elms

11. Public Opinion, Economic Issues, and the Vote: Are Presidential Elections “All About the Benjamins?”, Paul R. Brewer

Part 5. GOVERNMENTAL CONNECTIONS

12. Manipulating Public Opinion, Kathleen McGraw

13. Trust in Local Government, Wendy M. Rahn and Thomas J. Rudolph

14. The People's Craving for Unselfish GovernmentJohn Hibbing

15. Public Support for Post-Communist Transitions in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, William Mishler and Richard Rose

Appendix: A Primer on Statistics and Public Opinion

References
Index

Barbara Norrander (Ph.D., The Ohio State University) is associate professor of political science at the University of Arizona. She is the author of Super Tuesday: Regional Politics and Presidential Primaries, as well as contributing author to several edited volumes. Currently an editorial board member of the American Journal of Political Science, Norrander has also written numerous journal articles on public opinion, political behavior, and other subjects.

Clyde Wilcox is a professor of government at Georgetown University. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Serious Money: Fundraising and Contributing in Presidential Nomination Campaigns (1995), Onward Christian Soldiers: The Christian Right in American Politics (1996), and Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering (1999). His edited books include Women in Elected Office: Past, Present, and Future (1998), The Politics of Gay Rights (2000), and Understanding Public Opinion, 2nd ed. (2002).