Rosalee A. Clawson

Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance

Framing is the process by which a communication source, such as a news organization, defines and constructs a political issue or public controversy. Two experiments examined the effect of news frames on tolerance for the Ku Klux Klan. The first presented research participants with one of two local news stories about a Klan rally that varied by frame: One framed the rally as a free speech issue, and the other framed it as a disruption of public order. Participants who viewed the free speech story expressed more tolerance for the Klan than participants who watched the public order story. Additional data indicate that frames affect tolerance by altering the perceived importance of public order values. The relative accessibility of free speech and public order concepts did not respond to framing. A second experiment used a simulated electronic news service to present different frames and replicated these findings.

Toward a Psychology of Framing Effects

Framing is the process by which a communication source constructs and defines a social or political issue for its audience. While many observers of political communication and the mass media have discussed framing, few have explicitly described how framing affects public opinion. In this paper we offer a theory of framing effects, with a specific focus on the psychological mechanisms by which framing influences political attitudes. We discuss important conceptual differences between framing and traditional theories of persuasion that focus on belief change. We outline a set of hypotheses about the interaction between framing and audience sophistication, and test these in an experiment. The results support our argument that framing is not merely persuasion, as it is traditionally conceived. We close by reflecting on the various routes by which political communications can influence attitudes.

Support For A Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision A Story in Black and White

Unlike other policy-making institutions that actively attempt to shape public opinion, the Supreme Court is largely dependent upon others to disseminate its policy pronouncements to the public. One consequence: How the media frame the Court’s actions can affect public support for Court policies. This article presents the results of an experiment designed to take soundings on the effect of different media frames on White and Black support for a controversial affirmative action ruling. Using stimuli we created based on coverage of the Adarand v. Pena (1995) decision in the Black press and the mainstream press, we find that media framing has a significant effect on agreement with the Court’s policy among White subjects. For Blacks, the impact of the media framing is moderated by ideological predispositions. In addition, both White and Black support for the Court’s ruling is influenced by the media portrayal of Justice Clarence Thomas.

The Legitimacy-conferring Authority of the U.S. Supreme Court An Experimental Design

Convention holds that the Supreme Court, because of its special constitutional role, can confer an element of legitimacy on a policy simply by endorsing it. In this study, we conducted an experiment to test the legitimacy-conferring effect of Court rulings on public opinion in two policy areas—affirmative action and regulation of phone rates. We found that in both cases, the Supreme Court had an impact on policy agreement and behavioral intentions that was moderated by other important variables. We conclude that the Supreme Court plays an important role in shaping public opinion and political behavior.

Poor People, Black Faces The Portrayal of Poverty in Economics Textbooks

In this study, the author examines the portrayal of poverty in economics textbooks. The author tests the hypothesis that Blacks are disproportionately represented among the poor. In other words, she analyzes whether poverty is predicted as a “Black” problem. She found evidence that Black faces are overwhelmingly portrayed among the contemporary poor. She also demonstrates that Blacks are not portrayed among the Great Depression era poor, a particularly sympathetic group of poor people. In addition, Blacks are not used to illustrate a popular social welfare program—Social Security.

Media Coverage of Congress in the 1990s: Scandals, Personalities, and the Prevalence of Policy and Process

In this article, we provide a comprehensive, systematic examination of media coverage of Congress in the 1990s. Specifically, we content analyze over 2,600 congressional news stories from the New York Times and CBS Evening News from 1990 through 1998. We find that the news media covered substantive policy concerns and the legislative process quite regularly and that stories focusing on individual personalities and political scandals were comparatively infrequent. We also find that legislative maneuvering is a mainstay of congressional media coverage, and the democratic process is most often framed as conflict between parties and Congress and the president.

The Race Coding of Poverty in American Government College Textbooks

In American politics, the issues of poverty and race have become inextricably intertwined. The political rhetoric surrounding poverty is replete with stereotypical images of African Americans. In other words, poverty has become race coded. In this paper, the authors analyze the representation of poverty in American government college textbooks. It is found that these textbooks portray poverty as a Black problem and perpetuate other stereotypical images of the poor.In American politics, the issues of poverty and race have become inextricably intertwined. The political rhetoric surrounding poverty is replete with stereotypical images of African Americans. In other words, poverty has become race coded. In this paper, the authors analyze the representation of poverty in American government college textbooks. It is found that these textbooks portray poverty as a Black problem and perpetuate other stereotypical images of the poor.

Online Discussions Across Three Universities: Student Participation and Pedagogy

From PowerPoint presentations to web-based quizzes to entire classes taught online, technological changes have had a strong influence on pedagogical practices. The initial research into the pedagogical effectiveness of these emerging technologies suggests there are many ways in which they might be useful ( Boschmann 1995 ; Hiltz 1994 ; Palloff and Pratt 2001 ). In this paper, we examine student participation on a structured online discussion group that spanned three universities and address two research questions: what explains student participation in online discussion groups and how effective are these groups as pedagogical tools? To address these topics, we draw upon our use of online discussions as a class assignment during the fall semester of 2000. First, we examine previous research and generate several expectations about student behavior and attitudes.

Learning through Publishing The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics

Publishing a research journal can be a rewarding and useful learning experience for undergraduate students. Drawing upon our experiences with The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics, we describe the benefits of producing a peer-reviewed journal. Among the benefits we highlight are gains in political science knowledge, increased understanding of research methodologies, refinement of writing and debating skills, and development of interpersonal skills. We close with a call for professors to encourage their students to submit papers to the journal. most undergraduate students, exposure to political science research and the research process occurs only in the context of their coursework, via assigned readings, class lectures, and writing assignments. To be sure, some students do engage in political science scholarship by conducting their own original research projects, and others are hired as research assistants for faculty. In a handful of political science departments, however, undergraduate students are publishing research journals, giving them the opportunity to become even more engaged with political science research. Working on a peer-reviewed journal presents students with a unique educational experience, one that provides continuous learning beyond the classroom setting and helps to refine research and editing skills. How many undergraduate journals exist in colleges and universities throughout the United States? To our knowledge, no listing of such journals exists. We know, though, that 11 student journals receive financial support from Pi Sigma Alpha, the Between September 2007 and June 2008, Benjamin Bauer was a senior at Union College and co-editor of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics. Whitney Ogas was a co-editor of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics^rom September 2007 to June 2008, during her senior year at Union College. OmarShakt was the deputy editor of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal ofPolitics^rom September 2007 to June 2008, during his senior year at Union College. Zoe Oxley is an associate professor of political science at Union College. She currently serves as the faculty advisor of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics. She can be reached at oxleyz@union.edu. Rosalee Clawson is an associate professor of political science at Purdue University. She was the faculty advisor of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics from the fall 0/2004 through the spring of 2007. She can be reached at dawsonr@purdue. edu. national political science honor society (Pi Sigma Alpha 2007). Undoubtedly there are other journals published by undergraduates than these (see Barrios and Weber 2006 for one example), so 11 is merely the minimum number. In this article, we discuss one of the journals that Pi Sigma Alpha supports: The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics. This is a student-run, refereed journal dedicated to publishing outstanding undergraduate political science research from across the nation. After providing a brief description of this publication and its reviewing procedures, we turn to a discussion of the pedagogical benefits gained by students who work on the journal. More specifically, we detail the academic, intellectual, and interpersonal learning that occurs through working on a peer-reviewed journal. We conclude by asking professors to encourage their students to submit papers to The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics and to consider hosting it in the future. THE PI SIGMA ALPHA UNDERGRADUATE

Supreme Court Legitimacy and Group-Centric Forces: Black Support for Capital Punishment and Affirmative Action

The Supreme Court has addressed capital punishment and affirmative action many times and, as a result, has had sweeping policymaking effects. For that reason, we argue that black opinion on capital punishment and affirmative action will be shaped by diffuse support for the Court. We also recognize the important role of group-centric forces in shaping black opinion. We find that diffuse support for the Court leads blacks with lower levels of race consciousness to be more supportive of capital punishment and less supportive of affirmative action, positions in line with the Courts decisions on these issues but contrary to black interests. The Court, however, is not able to throw its cloak of legitimacy around its policy position for blacks with the highest levels of group consciousness.