Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Policy And Perception On Women’S Health Since 2010, Eryn Busenbark

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This project tackles the complicated relationship between policy and perception of women’s health in the last decade. This was achieved through research on existing literature and semi-structured interviews with five professionals in various areas of women’s health: mental health, public policy, sexual health education, and research. Literature reviews were conducted using University of Nebraska at Omaha Criss Library’s databases, with dozens of articles analyzed. The goal of this research was to gain an understanding of how public opinion and perceptions can sway policy, which has created challenges and consequences for women and their health.

Whose Lives Matter? Race, Public Opinion, And Military Conflict, Whitney Hua, Thomas Jamieson

Public Administration Faculty Publications

This paper examines how race affects attitudes towards conflict beyond the water’s edge. While prior literature largely assumes that all casualties affect voters’ attitudes similarly, we argue that attitudes toward casualties are importantly shaped by racial-group identities. More specifically, we argue that domestic responses to international events – namely American casualties in military conflict – are conditioned by individuals’ attitudes and biases toward the race of fallen soldiers. Using a novel survey experiment, we find that while people become more supportive of conflict when informed of any soldier’s death, support for escalating conflict only increases when the fallen soldiers have …

Catholics And Capital Punishment: Do Pope Francis’S Teachings Matter In Policy Preferences?, Francis T. Cullen, Amanda Graham, Kellie R. Hannan, Alexander L. Burton, Leah C. Butler, Velmer S. Burton Jr.

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In the United States, Catholics make up more than 50 million members of the adult population, or about one in five Americans. It is unclear whether their religious affiliation shapes Catholics’ views on public policy issues, ranging from the legality of abortion to criminal justice practices. Capital punishment is especially salient, given that Pope Francis announced in 2018—as official Catholic Church teaching—that the death penalty is “inadmissible” under all circumstances. Based on two national surveys, the current project explores Catholics’ support for state executions before (2017) and after (2019) the Pope’s momentous change in the church’s Catechism. At present, little …

What Does The Public Want Police To Do During Pandemics? A National Experiment, Justin Nix, Stefan Ivanov, Justin T. Pickett

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We administered a survey experiment to a national sample of 1,068 US adults in April 2020 to determine the factors that shape support for various policing tactics in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents were sharply divided in their views about pandemic policing tactics, and were least supportive of policies that might limit public access to officers or reduce crime deterrence. Information about the health risks to officers, but not to inmates, significantly increased support for “precautionary” policing, but not for “social distance” policing. The information effect was modest, but may be larger if the information came from official …

Belief In Redeemability And Punitive Public Opinion: “Once A Criminal, Always A Criminal” Revisited, Alexander L. Burton, Francis T. Cullen, Velmer S. Burton Jr., Amanda Graham, Leah C. Butler, Angela J. Thielo

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In 2009, Maruna and King presented results from a British survey showing that the public’s belief in the redeemability of people who committed offenses curbed their level of punitiveness. Based on a 2017 national survey in the United States (n = 1,000), the current study confirms that redeemability is negatively related to punitive attitudes. In addition, the analyses reveal that this belief predicts support for rehabilitation and specific inclusionary policies (i.e., ban-the-box in employment, expungement of criminal records, and voting rights for people with a felony conviction). Findings regarding measures for punishment and rehabilitation were confirmed by a 2019 …

Incorporating Research Design In Public Diplomacy: The Role Of Listening To Foreign Publics, Juve J. Cortés, Thomas Jamieson

Public Administration Faculty Publications

Research design involves a set of decisions regarding what or who will be studied and the procedures in acquiring and analyzing information. In this article, we apply lessons from research design to public diplomacy, a field focused on engaging with foreign publics. Much prior scholarship sheds light on what PD is and its programs, but less attention has been given to the role of listening to understand what foreign publics think and believe. We propose three interrelated recommendations to improve the quality of implementing PD programs. First, before any program is implemented, we need to correctly identify a perceived issue …

The Effects Of Certain And Uncertain Incentives On Effort And Knowledge Accuracy, Thomas Jamieson, Nicholas Weller

Public Administration Faculty Publications

In many situations, incentives exist to acquire knowledge and make correct political decisions. We conduct an experiment that contributes to a small but growing literature on incentives and political knowledge, testing the effect of certain and uncertain incentives on knowledge. Our experiment builds on the basic theoretical point that acquiring and using information is costly, and incentives for accurate answers will lead respondents to expend greater effort on the task and be more likely to answer knowledge questions correctly. We test the effect of certain and uncertain incentives and find that both increase effort and accuracy relative to the control …

Mock Juror Perceptions Of Police Shootings: The Effects Of Victim Race And Shooting Justifiability, Jessica Huff, Muaricio J. Alvarez, Monica K. Miller

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recent police shootings of African Americans have led citizens to question police officers’ use of force. Thus, it is important to determine whether mock jurors can distinguish between justifiable and unjustifiable police shootings—and whether their judgements depend on victim race. Media attention could lead jurors to be more punitive in cases in which an officer shoots an African American (compared to Caucasian) victim. A punitive verdict would reflect society’s opposition to such shootings, as suggested by the bandwagon effect. In a 2 (Shooting: Justified/Unjustified) x 2 (Victim’s race: African American/ Caucasian) experiment, mock jurors read a trial summary involving a …

Contents Full Article Content List Abstract Introduction How Media Affects Attitudes Media And Law Enforcement Public Perception Of And Support For Torture Linking Public Opinion And Policy Experimental Design Participants Results Discussion Future Directions Policy Implications Acknowledgements Notes References Did You Struggle To Get Access To This Article? This Product Could Help You Lean Library Figures & Tables Article Metrics Related Articles Cite Share Request Permissions Explore More Download Pdf Open Epub “If Torture Is Wrong, What About 24?” Torture And The Hollywood Effect, Erin M. Kearns, Joseph K. Young

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Since 9/11, entertainment media has focused on depictions of terrorism and counterterrorism. How do dramatic depictions of counterterrorism practices—specifically torture—affect public opinion and policy? Using a mixed within-subjects and between-subjects experimental design, we examine how framing affects support for torture. Participants (n = 150) were randomly assigned to a condition for dramatic depictions showing torture as (a) effective, (b) ineffective, or (c) not present (control). Participants who saw torture as effective increased their stated support for it. Participants who saw torture—regardless of whether or not it was effective—were more likely to sign a petition on …

On The Relationship Between Regime Approval And Democratic Transition, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, Gregory A. Petrow

Political Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Democratic transition scholars find a large number of factors associated with the likelihood of non-democratic regimes transitioning to democracy. Of these, three factors appear to be among the most potent: economic development, economic crisis, and the type of non-democratic regime (e.g. Geddes 1999, Brownlee 2009). However, another type of factor may matter as well - public approval of the regime. The chief limitation that prevents scholars from addressing this factor is the absence of data. However, we have access to the largest repository of international public opinion data that is comparable for all nations - the Gallup World Poll. The …

The Role Of Social Movements In The Macro Political System, Nathan J. Kelly, Gregory A. Petrow, Sarah A. Soule

Political Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

One of the central concepts in the study of social movements is that of the “Protest Cycle” (e.g., Tarrow 1998). The imagery of the Cycle is that of heightened protests, across issue areas and groups. Scholars have connected its rise to openings in the Political Opportunity Structure, which signals to early risers that the time may be ripe for collective action (e.g., Tarrow 1998). We find it striking that this core idea in the social movements literature has not been connected more explicitly to the literature on public opinion. This is especially striking because social movement scholars have begun to …

Different Regions, Similar Views, Gregory A. Petrow

Political Science Faculty Publications

U.S. regions have had radically different political histories. The South long has been seen as the nation’s most conservative region, while New England has been perceived as the most liberal.

An examination of 40 years of survey data generated by the American National Election Study, however, suggests that differences between the South and New England on social issues tend to be small, are getting smaller, and in some instances have disappeared.

Mass Media And The Death Penalty: Social Construction Of Three Nebraska Executions, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz, Michael L. Hilt

Communication Faculty Publications

This research analyzes local TV news coverage of three Nebraska executions in the 1990s, the first in the state since 1959. The three Nebraska executions allow us to see mass media coverage of the death penalty from four perspectives: 1) media organization routines, journalistic beliefs, and how source selection affected the content; 2) justice was portrayed through a consonant set of social symbols; 3) the public support for the death penalty in this country may have led journalists to avoid tough questioning of public officials; 4) the resulting coverage was a social construction of reality that might influence future public …

Occasional Paper No. 092-1: Health Care Perceptions Of Nebraska's Urban & Rural Aged, James A. Thorson, F. C. Powell

Publications

Random samples were drawn in Douglas County, Nebraska (N = 196, mean age = 73.8 years), in the counties surrounding Douglas County also served by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging (N = 104, mean age = 72.4 years), and in eleven of the rural Sandhills counties of Nebraska (N = 200, mean age = 76.6). Participants responded to structured interviews of 169 questions that included self-assessed health status, availability of health care and physician services, costs, attitudes toward health care services, health experiences and beliefs. While the Sandhills respondents were significantly older and had less access to health services, …

Support For An Outdoor Pool In Papillion, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This report summarizes findings from a December 1991 telephone survey that was conducted by the Center for Public Affairs Research for the city of Papillion. The survey was designed to determine voter support for the construction of an out-of-doors swimming pool.

Turning On Youth To Politics; Beyond Community Service, Harry C. Boyte

Civic Engagement

Studies by the Times Mirror Center ("The Age of Indifference") and others purport to reveal that today's teenagers and young adults view politics with nearly universal hatred and express apathy toward public affairs generally. A little more probing uncovers a more complex set of attitudes. Allan Moyle's film Pump Up the Volume, based in part on workshops with teenagers in New York, reveals a generation not so much apathetic as disgusted with adult hypocrisy, furious at adults' apparent inaction on mounting social problems, cynical about 1960s-style protest and uncertain about what else there is to do. But it is clear …