An analysis of the first half of Francois Hollande's five-year presidential term that examines the strengths and weaknesses of presidential politics following the Left's return to power in 2012 and puts forward an interpretation of the underlying nature of contemporary French politics, and the French Fifth Republic.

Based on extensive analysis of surveys from recent decades, this book provides a detailed study of the attitudes of religious groups in Britain. It looks at continuity and change in relation to party support, ideology, abortion, homosexuality and gay rights, foreign policy, and public opinion towards religion in public life.

Tolerance in the 21st Century investigates some of the key philosophical and practical dilemmas surrounding the implementation and realization of tolerance in the 21st century. In particular, this well thought-out volume investigates the political, social, moral, religious, global, and philosophical issues integral to discussions of tolerance in our current era. The work delves into new areas assessing the problems posed for tolerance by such factors as identity, war, community, the Internet, and gender. Each essay is written by expert scholars who seek to share their particular expertise with some of the most important and essential questions concerning tolerance. Editor Gerson Moreno-Riano has collected essays that ask not only where we are now in the study of tolerance but also seek to make a positive contribution to the study of tolerance by suggesting what can and should be done to further policies and practices of tolerance as well as investigating the limits of tolerance. Tolerance in the 21st Century is certain to delight scholars of political and democratic theory, political participation and citizenship, and American politics.

In 1997 the United States accepted more legal immigrants than all other countries combined. This large influx of newcomers, however, has alarmed many Americans. Immigration is a controversial issue because it intersects with the most contentious issues of our time: multiculturalism, bilingualism, unemployment, crime, etc. Opinion polls since 1965 show that a strong majority want to reduce immigration. Yet our government has refused to respond to the public's wish. In 1996, Congress scuttled a proposal to reduce immigration by a third. (Earlier, in 1990, Congress voted to increase immigration by a whopping 40 percent.) This is all the more surprising because the United States has had no qualms about severely restricting immigration in the past. Kenneth Lee explains why recent immigration policy has failed to reflect the public opinion by approaching the question from a broad, historical outlook, and from a focused, contemporary perspective. He traces several momentous historical changes that have abetted the pro-immigration block and weakened the restrictionists' clout (mainly, the rise of conservative economics in the 1970s and the growing racial liberalism in America). He also examines immigration policy on a micro-level: detailing the intense lobbying that went on for the 1990 and 1996 immigration bills, and he also shows how unlikely players as, for example, Christian Coalition's Ralph Reed, helped defeat the restrictionist bill in 1996.

In a vast society where environmentally conscious nonfarming voters and consumers have grown to greatly outnumber those directly engaged in agriculture, what happens in agriculture becomes increasingly subject to control by the general society, as policies and laws cater to constituents and consumers. This book provides an overview of how Americans perceive and value farmers and examines public opinion with regard to a number of agricultural issues. Based on analysis of national survey data, the authors offer an empirically based discussion and interpretation of those views and perceptions that help to shape policy and social sustainability. This unique collection illustrates that in addition to its natural, biological, and economic risks, agriculture has social risks that reverberate through all levels of society.

As the general population grows and the number of farms and farmers diminishes, the weight of public opinion becomes more important in the policy arena of society as well as in the market demands for food and fiber grown in safe and favorable environmental conditions. Setting the stage with a consideration of the larger society's interests in agricultural issues and of social and agricultural interdependence, the contributors cover a range of topics and issues affecting agriculture at the end of the 20th century. Chapters examine public perceptions of government's role in farming; support for an environmentally friendly agricultural system; views on pesticides and chemicals in foods; consumer attitudes on food safety; threats to clean drinking water, concerns over farm animal welfare; and the basic agrarian ethic of American society. The book concludes with a look to the future of the social risks of agriculture in the 21st century.

This collection brings together for the first time the key primary documents in the history of the abortion controversy in the United States. Organized by historical period, these 92 documents tell the story of this highly charged issue. An explanatory introduction geared to the needs of high school and college students accompanies each document. The collection emphasizes the political and social aspects of the debate, and many voices and conflicting views resound--in congressional hearings, Supreme Court decisions, government reports, party platforms, position papers, statutes, biographical accounts, and news stories. The heart of the work is the drama of Roe v. Wade--the cases that led to it, the Supreme Court decision and dissenting opinions, the reaction in Congress, public opinion, political consequences, and the most recent court tests.

The work is divided into five sections: Part I covers the historical period from its European inception until the beginning of the reform movement in the United States in the 1960s. Part II looks at the developments in 1960-1972 that led to the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Part III focuses on Roe v. Wade and the reaction to the decision. Part IV, The Battlelines Are Drawn, 1974-1980, describes the political battles over abortion in the 1970s. Part V includes documents from the Reagan/Bush administrations and ends with the beginning of the Clinton administration in 1993. Each chapter includes a list of suggested readings. The book concludes with a chronology of events in the abortion controversy and a list of decisions of the United States Supreme Court relating to abortion. The collection will be especially useful for high school, junior college, and college students, and for public libraries.

What would it mean for the EU to be a legitimate body, and where do our ideas on this question come from? In this award winning book, Claudia Schrag Sternberg explores some of the most significant questions surrounding the legitimacy of the European Union. Specifically, The Struggle for EU Legitimacy traces the history of constructions and contestations of the EU's legitimacy, in discourses of the European institutions and in public debate. Through an interpretive, non-quantitative textual analysis of an eclectic range of sources, it examines both long-term patterns in EU-official discourses and their reception in member-state public spheres, specifically in the German and French debates on the Maastricht and Constitutional Draft Treaties. The story told portrays the history of legitimating the EU as a never-ending contest over the ends and goals of integration, as well as a balancing act - which was inescapable given the nature of the integration project - between 'bringing the people in' and 'keeping them out', and between actively politicising and deliberately de-politicising the stakes of EU politics. Schrag Sternberg suggests that continuous contestation is not only a defining feature of this history, but a source of legitimacy in its own right.

Opinion Polls and the Media provides the most comprehensive analysis to date on the relationship between the media, opinion polls, and public opinion. Looking at the extent to which the media, through their use of opinion polls, both reflect and shape public opinion, it brings together a team of leading scholars and analyzes theoretical and methodological approaches to the media and their use of opinion polls. The contributors explore how the media use opinion polls in a range of countries across the world, and analyze the effects and uses of opinion polls by the public as well as political actors.

This, the 16th volume of the Index to International Public Opinion, provides data from opinion surveys conducted in 64 countries. Approximately 98 countries and geographical areas are referenced in these studies. The data were contributed by 166 survey research firms. As has been the case with previous volumes, all tables contain total sample results, and many include analysis by various population subgroups such as age, education level, gender, religious affiliation, and political party identification. As in the past, poll questions deal with a broad mix of social, political, and economic issues of both contemporary and historical interest. Volume 16 includes data from polls conducted for the most part during the period Spring 1993 through Spring 1994. In addition, for trend analysis purposes, a number of time series tables covering a decade or more are included. There is also a section entitled Changing Opinions: A 50-Year Retrospective</>. This part of the Index contains polling data gathered approximately a half century ago in a number of different countries. This volume and the overall series provide the most comprehensive source for public opinion data available. As such the volumes are of unusual importance for journalists, professional scholars, government officials, and business leaders.

This is the fourteenth annual volume of the Index to International Public Opinion. It includes data from public opinion polls from more than 130 countries and geographical regions. All tables contain total sample results, and many also include analysis by various population sub-groups such as age, sex, level of education, etc. The survey questions deal with social, political, and economic issues of both contemporary and historical interest. The data are drawn from surveys that have been conducted by polling organizations of the highest scientific quality. The volume contains data from surveys conducted mainly during the period Spring 1991 through Spring 1992. Also, for trend analysis purposes, included are a number of time series tables covering a decade or longer. Starting with volume fourteen, the annual contains a new section, Changing Opinions: A 50-year Retrospective, which consists of opinion polling data gathered a half century ago in a number of countries; not surprisingly, many of the issues asked about then are still current today. As the richest ongoing reference source for public opinion data, this volume and its predecessor volumes are invaluable for scholars of social, political, and economic issues, for business leaders, journalists, and government officials.

This work examines the political choices that surround the new technologies of telecommunications and broadcasting, and focuses on the essential issues of who determines how they are implemented and why, as well as who benefits from them. In its study of the distributional potential of these technologies, the book concentrates on the political and economic interests that are in conflict over the possibilities, and, in particular, on the ways in which the American and European governments have attempted to innovate, organize, and control information technology, telecommunications, and broadcasting. The technological innovation backed by industrialized governments, the authors contend, has largely served political and military interests rather than those of the general population. Written from the perspective of the individual citizen, the book argues that the emphasis by governments on industrial leadership has preempted concern for access, information, and accountability. Among the issues discussed are the impact that the globalization of industry is having on national sovereignty; the evolution of three international trading blocs through the standardization of high definition television and digital networks; the politics of cable and satellite transmission; and the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications. This work offers a unique linkage between telecommunications, broadcasting, and information technology, and it argues that governments have lost sight of the informational underpinnings of the democratic process. Students of politics, international relations, political economy, and media studies will find this book to be an invaluable resource.

Public Opinion, Public Policy, and Smoking tracks Americans' changing attitudes about cigarette smoking over the last century. With data from more than five thousand public and privately conducted polls, this book carefully examines how Americans came to understand the health risks of smoking; how the tobacco industry sought to reframe smoking; and how public opinion support for tobacco control affected lawsuits, elections, and public policies. This book tests several well-known linkage models that connect public opinion with public policy. It shows that conventional wisdom about public opinion and tobacco control policy is often mistaken. This book offers the first in-depth look at American public opinion and cigarette smoking during the last century.

Taking the bold position that the battle over gun control has already been won by the pro-gun-rights faction, this book will be equally informative to those immersed in the debate and those new to it. Gun control evokes passions equaled by few other subjects. As this book shows, the debate over firearms begins with cultural values and extends into questions of constitutional rights, public health and safety, and politics. Examining its subject through the prism of the Sandy Hook shootings, the book looks at the influence of elected officials, the courts, interest groups, and average citizens in shaping gun-control laws. It shares poll results detailing what the public really thinks about guns and why, and it explains the various components of gun policy and policymaking to show how they come together to form the current reality. While small skirmishes about the right to bear arms will continue for some time, the author, a self-described "gun-owning academic," asserts that changing public opinion, Supreme Court decisions, dominance of gun-rights interest groups, the Democratic Party's virtual withdrawal from the discussion, and a declining violent-crime rate have formed a perfect storm, resulting in the effective end of the gun control debate. This assertion and the thoughtful examination that leads to it will be of equal interest to those engaged in the argument and those researching it for the first time. Provides a balanced look at the topic of gun control, yet is not afraid to draw conclusions Offers historical perspective on current gun-control-related events and policies Examines how gun owners and the National Rifle Association (NRA) influence elected officials Discusses recent Supreme Court decisions impacting gun rights Explains why a rash of mass and school shootings have not resulted in more gun-control legislation

During the American Civil War, political ideology was the most important determinant of French journalistic attitudes. Conservatives usually supported the South while Liberals usually supported the North. Provincial newspapers, however, less consistently followed ideological patterns than their Parisian and big-city colleagues. Slavery was not a determinant of French attitudes, since all French were opposed to slavery; rather, both Conservatives and Liberals used the issue of slavery as a device to garner support. While Conservatives remained firm in believing that the South would prevail until the very end, Liberal journalists sometimes despaired of a Union triumph in the face of Northern military defeats.

With the aid of the most extensive and comprehensive survey data extracted from voters during the 2011 Scottish General, this book analyses the reasons behind why the SNP not only retained their mandate from the people to govern Scotland but further succeeded in winning a resounding majority in the Scottish Parliament. In tackling this overarching question other complex issues are also explored such as whether a pre-occupation with events at Westminster confined the Scottish Elections to the realm of 'second-order' elections? What impact the financial crisis had on elected a parliament that in reality has little economic power? The volume also has a broader appeal to devolved parliamentary elections more broadly by exploring what matters to voters when they cast their ballots for their national parliament in a complex, multi-level Political system. Examining performance evaluations, party loyalties and constitutional preferences, the authors show that Scottish elections are increasingly Scottish affairs, where voters are concerned with government competence - in domestic matters and in managing relations with Westminster.

Women have made significant inroads into political life in recent years, but in many parts of the world, their increased engagement has spurred attacks, intimidation, and harassment. This book provides the first comprehensive account of this phenomenon, exploring how women came to give these experiences a name: violence against women in politics. Tracing its global emergence as a concept, Mona Lena Krook draws on insights from multiple disciplines-political science, sociology, history, gender studies, economics, linguistics, psychology, and forensic science-to develop a more robust version of this concept to support ongoing activism and inform future scholarly work. Krook argues that violence against women in politics is not simply a gendered extension of existing definitions of political violence privileging physical aggressions against rivals. Rather, it is a distinct phenomenon involving a broad range of harms to attack and undermine women as political actors, taking physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and semiotic forms. Incorporating a wide range of country examples, she illustrates what this violence looks like in practice, catalogues emerging solutions around the world, and considers how to document this phenomenon more effectively. Highlighting its implications for democracy, human rights, and gender equality, the book asserts that addressing this issue requires ongoing dialogue and collaboration to ensure women's equal rights to participate-freely and safely-in political life around the globe.

This is a comprehensive exploration of theories of citizenship and inclusiveness in an age of globalization. The authors analyze democracy and the political community in a transnational context, using new critical, conceptual and normative perspectives on the borders, territories and political agents of the state.

This edited collection examines various aspects of the explosive abortion issue in the United States and Canada. In both countries, decisions of the national supreme court have made access to legal abortion easier than had previously been the case. This volume looks at the aftermath of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. and Morgantaler v. Regina in Canada. Individual chapters deal with the rhetoric of public discourse, public opinion at the mass level, political reasoning on the part of religious and pro-life activists, and the role of religion in political socialization on the abortion issue. Methodologically, the volume includes survey research, content analysis, participant observation, and political theory. The list of contributors includes some of the leading political scientists and sociologists working in the field.

How should political community be seen in the context of European integration? This book combines a theoretical treatment of political allegiance with a study of ordinary citizens, examining how taxi-drivers in Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic talk politics and situate themselves relative to political institutions and other citizens.

Prompted by the 'affective turn' within the entire spectrum of the social sciences, this books brings together the twin disciplines of political psychology and the political sociology of emotions to explore the complex relationship between politics and emotion at both the mass and individual level with special focus on cases of political tension. A role call of contributors from across the world and at the forefront of academic research in both disciplines combine the historical, cultural and socio-psychological conceptualizations of the political sociology of emotions with the study of opinion-making and electoral choice that characterises political psychology which previous studies have considered in isolation. The result is a compelling collection that sheds new light on the role of emotion in politics through analysis that covers both the micro and macro levels and as such is important reading for students and scholars of both political psychology and the sociology of emotions.

This 11th volume in a distinguished series represents a selection of the more significant data from the thousands of public opinion surveys conducted annually worldwide. The assembled data deal with a global range of current and continuing issues and serve as an indispensable resource for government officials, journalists, business leaders, and scholars. The volume is organized initially into Single Nation and Multi-national Surveys, each of which is subdivided into specific subject groups such as agriculture, energy, environment, religion, and more, that chart a broad range of contemporary social and political issues. Questions and accompanying tables are ordered by country and by date of the field interviewing. Alphabetical indexes including topical categories, countries in which the polls were conducted, and countries referenced in the surveys allow rapid access to the data. To facilitate longitudinal comparative research, the same subject categories have been used in each volume. As the single most important reference source for public opinion data in over 150 countries worldwide, including non-Western nations, Index to International Public Opinion, published annually since 1978, is an invaluable tool for social scientists charting changes and trends in international public opinion and a necessary addition to all libraries and research centers.

In recent years, the US has seen its public popularity ratings around the world plummet under the presidency of George W. Bush, and subsequently soar upon the election of Barack Obama. The issue of anti-Americanism has received considerable attention from policy-makers, pundits and scholars alike. It is perhaps surprising then that systematic empirical studies of its consequences are still few and far between. Drawing from a wealth of research data, interviews and surveys of social media, this book directly examines pro- and anti-American views and asks what we can learn about the nature and impact of world opinion. By treating anti-Americanism as a case study of public opinion at work, Professor Datta reveals how we can better understand the relationship between global citizens and their political leaders, and concludes that anti-Americanism does in fact substantially impact US security, as well as its economic and political interests.

This, the 15th annual volume of the Index, contains data from public opinion polls in more than 180 countries and regions, including 18 countries in Eastern and Central Europe. Among the highlights of this volume are significant amounts of data on such topics as economic affairs, the environment, health and medicine, international relations, and social issues and problems. A new feature is a 50-year retrospective on Changing Opinions. Among the topics presented in multinational surveys are The Maastricht Treaty, NAFTA, the health of the planet, the police, and an Ibero-American barometer. All tables contain total sample results, and many also include analysis by various population subgroups such as age, sex, level of education, etc. As the richest ongoing reference source for public opinion data, this volume and its predecessor volumes are invaluable for scholars of social, political, and economic issues, as well as for business leaders, journalists, and governmental officials.

Sharp in focus and succinct in analysis, this Pivot examines the latest developments and scholarly debates surrounding the sources of the European Union's crisis of legitimacy and possible solutions. It examines not only the financial and economic dimensions of the current crisis, but also those crises at the heart of the EU integration project.

This study examines the evolution and political consequences of the 2009 British MPs' expenses scandal. Despite claims of a revolution in British politics, we show how the expenses scandal had a limited, short-term impact.