Issue Framing and Engagement: Rhetorical Strategy in Public Policy Debates |
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Authors: | Jennifer Jerit |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Political Science, Florida State University, 531 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA |
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Abstract: | Conventional wisdom and scholarly research indicate that to win a policy debate political actors should frame the issue strategically—that
is, selectively highlight considerations that mobilize public opinion behind their policy position. Engaging the opponent
in a dialogue (i.e., focusing on the same considerations) is portrayed as a suboptimal strategy because political actors forfeit the ability to structure the debate.
Using over 40 public opinion polls and a detailed content analysis of news stories, I examine the use of framing and engagement
strategies during the 1993–94 debate over health care reform. The analysis shows that engagement was more effective at increasing
support for reform than framing. This study is the first to document the role of engagement in a policy debate, and it extends
work showing that this strategy is more common in election campaigns than scholars once suspected.
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Keywords: | Framing Engagement Public opinion Rhetoric |
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