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Making sense of public opinion [electronic resource] : American discourses about immigration and social programs / Claudia Strauss

Author
Strauss, Claudia, 1953-
Published
New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Physical Description
xxviii, 424 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
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Contents
Machine generated contents note: Part I. Overview: 1. Conventional discourses, public opinion, and political culture; 2. Analysis of conventional discourses: backgrounds and methods; 3. Conventional discourses and personal lives; Part II. Immgration: 4. Public opinion about immigration; 5. 'Too many immigrants' and discourses about economic costs and benefits; 6. Discourses about legality, illegality, and national security; 7. Discourses about immigration and American culture; 8. Discourses about immigration causes and contexts; Part III. Social Welfare Programs: 9. Public opinion about social welfare programs; 10. Discourses about limitations of government programs; 11. Discourses about personal responsibility and benefits for the deserving; 12. Discourses about caring for self, family, community, and nation; 13. Discourses about social causes of economic insecurity; Part IV. Conclusion: 14. Questions and implications.
Summary
"Americans express contradictory views on immigration and social welfare programs. Claudia Strauss proposes that these views are formed not from standard ideologies or broad values, but from conventional ways of speaking about topics. The wording of a survey question or political message may cue one specific discourse, while a slightly different wording can trigger opposing opinions held by the same speaker. By identifying and describing common vernacular discourses, this book illustrates how discourses construct our opinions on immigration and social welfare. This study draws on interviews with people from various backgrounds to demonstrate how we acquire conventional discourses from our opinion communities. Immigration and Social Programs explains what conventional discourses are, how to study them, and why they are fundamental elements of public opinion and political culture"--
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ISBN
9781107019928 (hardback)
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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