The Mass Media and the Dynamics of American Racial Attitudes

by Paul M. Kellstedt

• ISBN13: 9780521821711
• ISBN10: 0521821711
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 8/4/2003
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Paul M. Kellstedt explains the variation in Americans' racial attitudes over the last half-century, particularly the relationship between media coverage of race and American public opinion on race. The analyses reveal that racial policy preferences have evolved in an interesting and unpredicted (if not unpredictable) fashion over the past fifty years. There have been sustained periods of liberalism, where the public prefers an active government to bring about racial equality, and these periods are invariably followed by eras of conservatism, where the public wants the government to stay out of racial politics altogether. These opinions respond to cues presented in the national media. Kellstedt then examines the relationship between attitudes on the two major issues of the twentieth century: race and the welfare state.

Author Biography

Paul M. Kellstedt is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
List of Tables	xi
Preface	xiii
1 Toward a Dynamic Perspective on Racial Attitudes	1	(12)
2 Eras of Media Coverage of Race	13	(42)
3 Eras of Racial Liberalism and Conservatism	55	(28)
4 Media Framing and the Dynamics of Racial Policy Preferences	83	(23)
5 The Fusion of Race and the Welfare State in the Public Mind	106	(24)
6 A New American Dilemma for a New Millennium?	130	(12)
Appendix	142	(5)
References	147	(6)
Index	153