In this book John Zaller develops a comprehensive theory to explain how people acquire political information from the mass media and convert it into political preferences. Using numerous specific examples, Zaller applies this theory in order to explain the dynamics of public opinion on a broad range of subjects, including both domestic and foreign policy, trust in government, racial equality, and presidential approval, as well as voting behavior in U.S. House, Senate and Presidential elections. Particularly perplexing characteristics of public opinion are also examined, such as the high degree of random fluctuations in political attitudes observed in opinion surveys and the changes in attitudes due to minor changes in the wording of survey questions.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"...this is an impressive and important book with broad implications." Communication Theory
"John Zaller's volume makes sense of a diverse interdisciplinary body of work...He manages to deal in depth with most of the relevant work currently going on in political science, psychology, and sociology, and courageously wrestles with hard questions and faces up to conflicting findings." William J McGuire, Yale University
"Zaller's volume is a giant step forward in the development of a systematic understanding of the dynamics of public opinion. This is a splendid contribution." Philip E. Converse, Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences
"John Zaller has produced a truly wonderful book. It is, first, a model of what social science can be at its finest. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion reshapes the field in ways that will reverberate throughout the study of public opinion, elections, and the relationship between elites and the mass public for decades." John Aldrich, Duke University
"Zaller's book is the most significant contribution to the scientific study of public opinion in almost three decades. It reflects vast knowledge, deep insight, and exemplary craftsmanship, weaving together theory and data, mass and elite, and psychology and politics with remarkable elegance and authority." Larry M. Bartels, Princeton University
"John Zaller has written the single most important book on public opinion since V. O. Key's 1961 classic, Public Opinion and American Democracy....Zaller offers a well-developed theory, supported by considerable data and methodological sensitivity. Overall, the book is well written and clearly organized, and it provides social scientists with the clearest model to date that explains both the nature and origins of mass opinion." Henry C. Kenski, Contemporary Sociology
"...a simple but elegant deductive model of the process by which individuals answer questions about public opinion... Zaller has written a classic." Journal of Politics
"...the style and focus of this research program is strikingly different from the norm of public opinion studies...This is perhaps the best book ever written about public opinion. It starts with elegant encompassing theory and goes on to make sense of everything we know, including numbers of stray -thought-to-be-unrelated -findings that all blend together into a coherent whole." James Stimson, American Political Science Review
"John Zaller's volume makes sense of a diverse interdisciplinary body of work...He manages to deal in depth with most of the relevant work currently going on in political science, psychology, and sociology, and courageously wrestles with hard questions and faces up to conflicting findings." William J McGuire, Yale University
"Zaller's volume is a giant step forward in the development of a systematic understanding of the dynamics of public opinion. This is a splendid contribution." Philip E. Converse, Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences
"John Zaller has produced a truly wonderful book. It is, first, a model of what social science can be at its finest. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion reshapes the field in ways that will reverberate throughout the study of public opinion, elections, and the relationship between elites and the mass public for decades." John Aldrich, Duke University
"Zaller's book is the most significant contribution to the scientific study of public opinion in almost three decades. It reflects vast knowledge, deep insight, and exemplary craftsmanship, weaving together theory and data, mass and elite, and psychology and politics with remarkable elegance and authority." Larry M. Bartels, Princeton University
"John Zaller has written the single most important book on public opinion since V. O. Key's 1961 classic, Public Opinion and American Democracy....Zaller offers a well-developed theory, supported by considerable data and methodological sensitivity. Overall, the book is well written and clearly organized, and it provides social scientists with the clearest model to date that explains both the nature and origins of mass opinion." Henry C. Kenski, Contemporary Sociology
"...a simple but elegant deductive model of the process by which individuals answer questions about public opinion... Zaller has written a classic." Journal of Politics
"...the style and focus of this research program is strikingly different from the norm of public opinion studies...This is perhaps the best book ever written about public opinion. It starts with elegant encompassing theory and goes on to make sense of everything we know, including numbers of stray -thought-to-be-unrelated -findings that all blend together into a coherent whole." James Stimson, American Political Science Review
Book Description
A comprehensive theory to explain how people acquire political information from the mass media and convert it into political preferences is developed and applied to the dynamics of public opinion on a broad range of subjects.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
What would a comprehensive graduate exam in political science or political behavior be without a review of Zaller's now classic text? Elite discourse, Zaller informs us, shapes public opinion. That is, powerholders have the ability to mold both the agenda of the public -- the political issues that citizens feel to be most important -- as well as their beliefs about these issues. The topic raises important normative and ethical issues and the book offers a number of starting points for follow-up research. A decidedly good, important buy, this one.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By ab
Format:Paperback
Zaller's argues public opinion on issues is unreliable, primarily because elite sources of information provide competing or multiple considerations causing public opinon polls to measure whatever recent elite message an individual has stored in thier short term memory. A classic and important text. Zaller is not a straightforeward read, but lays out an important theory. The theory lacks focus on the use of core values and partisanship on public opinion; two important variables. Other than that it has held up to criticism for over a decade
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Newsman78
Format:Paperback
Zaller's book presents an interesting elite-driven model of public opinion, which essentially concludes that opinion polls are less than reliable and we should be skeptical of attempts to measure the public's attitudes. However, it is very dense, is chock-full of advanced statistics above the head of most political science graduate students, and therefore at the end of the day is somewhat unsatisfying.
If you need a primer on public opinion research, this isn't it. But if you want to read cutting-edge work, and you have a good grasp of statistics, dive in.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Little dated, but great
Zaller turns our perception of polling data on its ear. People don't think about most issues until they are asked, so opinion surveying might actually do more to shape opinions... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jonathan D. Bradley
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic, a must read
You want to know about public opinion? Read this book. You want to study political science past the undergraduate level? Read this book.
Published 3 months ago by Nicholas Creel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great text book for research
Nice to be able to order a book that had been stolen from the Sydney University library! The book arrived well packaged and in great condition.
Published 19 months ago by yarnellcj
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Echo Chamber At Work In Shaping Your Opinions
Zaller offers an insight into how public opinion is created and shifted to individuals. His view is that opinion is created within the circles of the elite, where political issues... Read more
Published on May 3, 2010 by Dr. Cardinal
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very informatinve book!
I had to read this book for a class at school and its very well written. This book is very informative and a recommend reading.
Published on November 9, 2007 by Daniel C. Cope
4.0 out of 5 stars
A REVIEW I WROTE FOR SCHOOL . . .
An interesting, and occasionally vexing, topic of study in political science is public opinion. In his book The American Democracy Thomas Patterson touches upon myriad issues that... Read more
Published on August 19, 2005 by RefLib
4.0 out of 5 stars
Measuring the Unmeasurable
The effectiveness and accuracy of public opinion polls was always assumed, until this important and enlightening book. Read more
Published on March 20, 2004 by doomsdayer520
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 62
books:
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100
books
cite this book:
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- Social Psychology by Elliot Aronson on 4 pages
- Social Psychology (12th Edition) by Shelley E. Taylor in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Political Psychology by Kristen Renwick Monroe in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Logic of Congressional Action by R. Douglas Arnold on page 96, and Back Matter
See all 62 books this book cites
- Studies in Public Opinion: Attitudes, Nonattitudes, Measurement Error, and Change by Willem E. Saris on 14 pages
- Citizens and Politics: Perspectives from Political Psychology (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology) by James H. Kuklinski on 10 pages
- Mediated Politics: Communication in the Future of Democracy (Communication, Society and Politics) by W. Lance Bennett on 5 pages
- Public Opinion by Carroll J. Glynn on 4 pages
- Taken by Storm: The Media, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf War (American Politics and Political Economy Series) by W. Lance Bennett on page 209, page 274, and Back Matter
See all 100 books citing this book
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