In this highly anticipated revision, Understanding Public Opinion captures the diversity in public opinion research with 12 fully-updated essays, including 10 new to this edition. In straightforward prose, contributors highlight the many approaches that social scientists use to explore public opinion while exposing students to innovative research. Covering such topics as how issues of race and media surrounding Hurricane Katrina affected public attitudes and the rise and fall of public support for George W. Bush, Understanding Public Opinion expands on important ideas that basic textbooks only cover briefly. It is the ideal supplement for any public opinion course.

Part I. The Causes of Public Attitudes

1. Gender, Virginia Sapiro and Shauna Shames

2. Ethnicity, John A. Garcia

3. Religion, Kenneth D. Wald

4. Genetics: “The Ultimate Source of Political Opinions”, John A. Hibbing and John R. Alford

Part II. Issue Attitudes

5. War, Adam Berinsky

6. Civil Liberties, Darren W. Davis

7. Hurricane Katrina: Race, Media, and Nature, Lonna R. Atkeson and Cherie Maestas

8. Moral Issues: Abortion and Gay Rights, Clyde Wilcox

Part III. Organization of Attitudes

9. Ideology and Values, William G. Jacoby

10. Partisan Polarization, Geoffrey C. Layman and Thomas M. Carsey

Part IV. Government Connections

11. Trust in Government, Paul Gronke

12. The Rise and Fall in Public Support for George W. Bush, Barbara Norrander and Tiffany Harper

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).