Policy Mood and Political Sophistication: Why Everybody Moves Mood

This article presents evidence that both micro (individual level) and macro (aggregate level) theories of public opinion overstate the importance of political sophistication for opinion change. It is argued that even the least politically sophisticated segment of society receives messages about the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of political science 2008-07, Vol.38 (3), p.433-454
Main Authors: ENNS, PETER K., KELLSTEDT, PAUL M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Conservatism
Economic expectations
Economic forecasting
Electorate
Emotions
Government
Hypotheses
Liberalism
Longitudinal studies
Opinion change
Policy
Political attitudes
Political parties
Political science
Political theory
Politics
Polities
Public Opinion
Society
Trends
U.S.A
Unemployment
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Summary:This article presents evidence that both micro (individual level) and macro (aggregate level) theories of public opinion overstate the importance of political sophistication for opinion change. It is argued that even the least politically sophisticated segment of society receives messages about the economy and uses this information to update attitudes about political issues. To test this hypothesis, the authors have used General Social Survey data to construct a 31-item measure of policy mood, disaggregated by political sophistication, that spans from 1972 to 2004. They found that all the subgroups generally changed opinion at the same time, in the same direction, and to about the same extent. Furthermore, they show that groups at different sophistication levels change opinions for predominantly the same reasons.
ISSN:0007-1234
1469-2112
DOI:10.1017/S0007123408000227