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Framing Public Opinion in Competitive Democracies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2007

DENNIS CHONG  and
JAMES N. DRUCKMAN
DENNIS CHONG
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
JAMES N. DRUCKMAN
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
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Abstract

What is the effect of democratic competition on the power of elites to frame public opinion? We address this issue first by defining the range of competitive contexts that might surround any debate over a policy issue. We then offer a theory that predicts how audiences, messages, and competitive environments interact to influence the magnitude of framing effects. These hypotheses are tested using experimental data gathered on the opinions of adults and college students toward two policy issues—the management of urban growth and the right of an extremist group to conduct a rally. Our results indicate that framing effects depend more heavily on the qualities of frames than on their frequency of dissemination and that competition alters but does not eliminate the influence of framing. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for the study of public opinion and democratic political debate.

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ARTICLES
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American Political Science Review , Volume 101 , Issue 4 , November 2007 , pp. 637 - 655
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© 2007 by the American Political Science Association

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