Argument Repertoire as a Reliable and Valid Measure of Opinion Quality: Electronic Dialogue During Campaign 2000

A new measure of opinion quality that we name "argument repertoire" (AR) is introduced and evaluated. AR refers to the relevant reasons that one has for one's own opinions and the relevant reasons that others with opposite opinions might have. The measure is shown to be reliable and to have construct validity. Those with elevated AR also were more likely to attend on-line deliberative groups during the presidential election and to contribute to those conversations. Those who participated in online deliberations tended to have higher AR scores on particular issues that were discussed. The role of AR in deliberative political groups is explored.     

Psychophysiology in the Study of Political Communication: An Expository Study of Individual-Level Variation in Negativity Biases

The use of psychophysiological measures has been relatively common in the study of communication; there has been a recent increase in interest among political behavioralists as well. There has nevertheless been a limited body of work that uses psychophysiological measures to better understand the impact of political mass media content. This article presents the case for using psychophysiological measures to study political communication. Focusing on skin conductance, it outlines the advantages of this measure for capturing subconscious responses to media over time, second-to-second. It then presents results from recent experimental work in the United States that highlights individual-level variation in responsiveness to negative versus positive news content—variation that is correlated with measures of psychophysiological reactions to non-news content, suggesting the relevance of deep-seated predispositions in psychophysiological research on media effects.     

Brief motivation enhancing intervention to prevent criminal recidivism in substance-abusing offenders under supervision: a randomized trial

The goal of this study was to assess the effect of a brief motivation enhancing intervention (MEI) on criminal recidivism. This was a multi-site, cluster-randomized clinical trial in six addiction probation offices. We randomized 73 probation officers (37 to intervention, 36 to control) and followed 220 substance-abusing repeat offenders that were allocated to them (111 intervention, 109 control). We report three measures of recidivism rate (self-report, police records, and combination of either of the two) and time to re-offending (police records) during a 12-month follow-up period. The proportion of re-offending and time to re-offending was not significantly different between offenders that received supervision plus intervention and those that received supervision-as-usual (SAU, no intervention). Our findings provide no evidence that supervision plus a brief MEI is more effective than SAU.     

Book Review

Theorists have argued that discussion and disagreement are essential components of sound public opinion, and indeed that both are necessary for effective democracy. But their putative benefits have not been well tested. Consequently, this article examines whether disagreement in political conversation contributes to opinion quality--specifically, whether it expands one's understanding of others' perspectives. Data are drawn from a survey of the American public ( N = 1,684) conducted in February and March 2000. Open-ended survey measures of "argument repertoire"--reasons people can give in support of their own opinions, as well as reasons they can offer to support opposing points of view--are examined in light of numerous explanatory variables, including the frequency of political conversation and exposure to disagreement. Results confirm the hypothesis that exposure to disagreement does indeed contribute to people's ability to generate reasons, and in particular reasons why others might disagree with their own views.     

Bridging Gaps in Cross-Cutting Media Exposure: The Role of Public Service Broadcasting

Previous studies show that individual political interest is an antecedent of news media exposure, particularly of exposure to differing views. Nevertheless, little is known about this effect from a comparative perspective: How do media institutions affect the relationship between political interest and exposure to cross-cutting viewpoints? One institutional feature that varies between countries is the ownership of broadcast media. This study investigates the extent to which the relative dominance of public service broadcasting alters the relationship between political interest and non-like-minded, or cross-cutting, news media exposure across 27 European Union countries. The analyses employ survey data from 27,079 individuals and media content from 48,983 news stories. The results confirm that the extent to which political interest contributes to cross-cutting exposure is contingent on the strength of public service broadcasting. The stronger the broadcaster, the smaller the gaps between the most and least politically engaged individuals.     

David Ben-Gurion and the ‘Demographic Threat’: His Dualistic Approach to Natalism, 1936–63

This article illuminates one of the many facet of Ben-Gurion's leadership that had an impact on his public image – his stance on fertility and childbirth, during the years 1936–63. The article outlining Ben-Gurion's thoughts on the birthrate in Mandatory Palestine and the State of Israel, analyse the developments in his views over the years and the reasons for it. His perception of the Jewish national importance of boosting the birthrate grew over time in keeping with historical developments and the soaring natural increase of the Arabs. In the first stage, births were important to him due to the need to create a Jewish majority that would pave the way for a Jewish state. In the second stage, once this goal had been achieved, it was out of concern for the security and stability of the state – in this stage, however, he built his leadership as a prime minister of all Israel citizens, including the Arabs. The analysis demonstrates, therefore, that Ben-Gurion's approach was characterized by dualism. The reasons for this dualism as well as Ben-Gurion's image as a ‘godfather of fertility’ are the focal point of this article.     

Receptivity to Violence in Ethnically Divided Societies: A Micro-Level Mechanism of Perceived Horizontal Inequalities

Although past scholarship shows that group inequalities in economic and political power (“Horizontal Inequalities”) correlate with dissent, violence, and civil wars, there is no direct empirical test of the perceptual explanation for this relationship at the individual level. Such explanation is vital to understanding how integration, inclusion in power-sharing agreements, and exclusion from political power filter down to mass publics. Moreover, subjective perceptions of group conditions do not always correspond to objective group realities. We hypothesize subjective perceptions attenuate the effect of objective exclusion on support for violence in ethnically divided societies. Cross-national comparative multilevel analyses of the 2005/6 Afrobarometer dataset (N = 19,278) confirm that subjective perceptions both amplify the effect of exclusion on acceptance of violence and alter the readiness of included groups to dissent. These findings carry implications for research, state-building, and conflict management.     

The Nationalization of Motherhood and the Stretching of its Boundaries: Shelihot Aliyah and evacuees in Eretz Israel (Palestine) in the 1940s

This article examines perceptions of motherhood as they developed during the late 1940s in the midst of the national struggle for independence in Eretz Israel (Palestine). It considers two case studies in which mothers who were ‘recruited’ by the emerging nation were temporarily separated from their children. The first case concerns women emissaries (Shelihot) who were called to help in Jewish refugee camps in Europe after the Holocaust. The second case involves mothers who were not evacuated with their children from their settlements during the War of Independence but remained, instead, at the front line. These situations led to the development of new perceptions of women and motherhood, which were shaped and matured during the national struggle for independence. The two case studies are used as lenses to explore women's own experiences and perceptions against the backdrop of the intensified idealization of motherhood in times of emergency circumstances.     

Jewish immigrants from the Greater Middle East to France and Belgium: ethnic identity and patterns of integration

ABSTRACT

The present study focused on two groups of immigrant Jews from the Greater Middle East, Israel and North Africa, who currently reside in three cities in Europe: Paris, Brussels and Antwerp. By using mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative), I compared the two groups and found that each one has its own subethnicity: Israelis can be mainly characterized as belonging to the ethno-communal pattern: refer to themselves as secular and use symbols deriving from the non-Jewish environment while preserving several traditional Jewish customs and community affiliation. In contrast, North African participants for the most part conform to the normative-traditional pattern in that they maintain (traditional) beliefs, values and norms while conforming to Jewish customs and ceremonies. Regarding integration and acculturation, Israelis mainly utilize the separation strategy and very partial integration among native–born Jews and other Jewish immigrants. North African participants are more integrated with local native-born and immigrant Jews. Although the most common strategy in both groups is separation from non-Jewish locals, this strategy is more pronounced among North African immigrants who reside in Paris. Israelis residing in Belgian cities (primarily in Brussels) utilize the strategy of partial assimilation among local non-Jewish population.