Political Beliefs (political + belief)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Not by Twins Alone: Using the Extended Family Design to Investigate Genetic Influence on Political Beliefs

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2010
Peter K. Hatemi
Variance components estimates of political and social attitudes suggest a substantial level of genetic influence, but the results have been challenged because they rely on data from twins only. In this analysis, we include responses from parents and nontwin full siblings of twins, account for measurement error by using a panel design, and estimate genetic and environmental variance by maximum-likelihood structural equation modeling. By doing so, we address the central concerns of critics, including that the twin-only design offers no verification of either the equal environments or random mating assumptions. Moving beyond the twin-only design leads to the conclusion that for most political and social attitudes, genetic influences account for an even greater proportion of individual differences than reported by studies using more limited data and more elementary estimation techniques. These findings make it increasingly difficult to deny that,however indirectly,genetics plays a role in the formation of political and social attitudes. [source]


The Ideological Implications of Using "Educational" Film to Teach Controversial Events

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2009
JEREMY D. STODDARD
ABSTRACT Use of media in today's classrooms, from feature and documentary film to news clips streamed via the Web, has grown exponentially. Film can be a powerful medium for teaching and learning, but is often viewed as a neutral source of information. This collective case study focuses on two teachers who use documentary film to teach about controversial events, with the goal of better understanding teacher selection and use of film as part of pedagogy and the experiences of students who are engaged in deliberative activities with film. In this case, teachers utilized film to help students examine two controversial events in U.S. history, the use of atomic weapons against Japan at the end of World War II and the role of the United States in Vietnam. These cases illustrate a tension that many teachers, who want to engage students in deliberative activities but who also want students to adopt particular moral or political stances, face in today's classrooms. The teachers in these cases utilize film as a neutral source for students to use as evidence for taking a position, despite the value-laden perspectives included in the films, perspectives that aligned with the teachers' own political beliefs. Other findings include student inability to recognize the perspectives in documentary films, the epistemic stances of teachers and students that documentaries are accurate and neutral, and the characteristics of students who are better equipped to recognize ideological perspectives. Implications for teachers, teacher educators, and especially democratic and social studies education researchers are explored. [source]


Government-opposition dynamics in the European Union: The Santer Commission resignation crisis

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2005
NILS RINGE
It considers the ideological left-right divide and the sovereignty-integration dimension as potential sources of a government-opposition cleavage in the EU, as well as a ,representation dimension'. The empirical evaluation of these propositions is based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the political crisis leading to the collective resignation of the Santer Commission. The article finds that government-opposition dynamics in the EU are related to the sovereignty-integration dimension of EU politics and to representation in EU executive institutions, rather than a left-right divide. Both political beliefs and opportunistic motivations determine government-support and opposition in the EU. [source]


Political Views and Corporate Decision Making: The Case of Corporate Social Responsibility

FINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2008
Amir Rubin
G30; P16 Abstract This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and political beliefs in the United States. By analyzing the 2004 presidential election results of communities in which corporate headquarters are located, we establish a correlation between the political beliefs of corporate stakeholders and the CSR ratings of their firms. Companies with a high CSR rating tend to be located in Democratic, or "blue" states and counties, while companies with a low CSR rating tend to be located in Republican, or "red" states and counties. [source]


The Church of Faith and Freedom: African,American Baptists and Social Action

JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 1 2003
Shayne Lee
Clergy have an undeniable ability to shape the political beliefs and attitudes of their congregations and thus revealing how the framing activities of clergy affect behavior and influence mobilization is vital for political sociology. This ethnographic work delineates how, in 1972, the Second Baptist Church of Evanston's new pastor initiated a rapid change from social conservatism to become one of the most politically and socially active African,American Baptist churches in the Midwest. Second Baptist's radical change confirms the power of religious elites in shaping politics in spiritual institutions, and also demonstrates the vital impact of professional socialization on the theological and political orientations of clergy. [source]


Rock and a Hard Place: Public Willingness to Trade Civil Rights and Liberties for Greater Security

POLITICS & POLICY, Issue 5 2009
HANK C. JENKINS-SMITH
Our research examines the implications of political beliefs for the relationship between preferences for freedom and security. We briefly situate the relationship in historical context and relate it to today's struggle with terrorism. Then we examine the influence of political beliefs on normative preferences for how liberty and security should be related and for perceptions of how they currently are being balanced. Using original data from a national Internet survey of more than 3,000 respondents, we examine causal relationships among core, domain, and policy context beliefs for preferences about balancing freedom and security. [source]


The Veterans' Bonus and the Evolving Presidency of Warren G. Harding

PRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2008
NIALL A. PALMER
Scholars attempting a positive reappraisal of Warren G. Harding's presidency claim that his political beliefs changed markedly during his short administration. This article concurs but suggests that revisionist writers underestimate the crucial part played in this metamorphosis by the president's clashes with Congress over cash compensation for war veterans. These confrontations shattered Harding's belief that the presidency and Congress could return to a cooperative working relationship after the tensions of the Roosevelt-Wilson era. The bonus clashes are, therefore, the defining moments of Harding's administration,eroding his partisan loyalty and forcing him to adopt the assertive, interventionist executive posture he had once criticized. [source]


Seeing Red (and Blue): Effects of Electoral College Depictions on Political Group Perception

ANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES & PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2009
Abraham M. Rutchick
Colored maps depicting electoral results may exacerbate perceptions of polarization, rather than merely reflecting them. Participants viewed maps of state-by-state Presidential election results that were either Electoral (red/Republican or blue/Democrat) or Proportional (purples that proportionally reflected each group's support). Half of the maps also displayed state-level numeric electoral results. Participants viewing Electoral maps perceived the nation as more politically divided, stereotyped the political beliefs of residents of various states more, and saw people holding views in the political minority as less agentic and less likely to vote. These differences occurred even in the presence of numeric data. Implications of these findings for intergroup perception in several domains are discussed, including the impact of electoral depictions on political campaigns and elections. [source]