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Much of public opinion research over the past several decades suggests that the American voters are woefully uninformed about politics and thus unable to fulfill their democratic obligations. Arguing that this perception is faulty, Vincent Hutchings shows that, under the right political conditions, voters are surprisingly well informed on the issues that they care about and use their knowledge to hold politicians accountable. Though Hutchings is not the first political scientist to contend that the American public is more politically engaged than it is often given credit for, previous scholarship--which has typically examined individual and environmental factors in isolation--has produced only limited evidence of an attentive electorate. Analyzing broad survey data as well as the content of numerous Senate and gubernatorial campaigns involving such issues as race, labor, abortion, and defense, Hutchings demonstrates that voters are politically engaged when politicians and the media discuss the issues that the voters perceive as important. Hutchings finds that the media--while far from ideal--do provide the populace with information regarding the responsiveness of elected representatives and that groups of voters do monitor this information when "their" issues receive attention. Thus, while the electorate may be generally uninformed about and uninterested in public policy, a complex interaction of individual motivation, group identification, and political circumstance leads citizens concerned about particular issues to obtain knowledge about their political leaders and use that information at the ballot box.

Democracy --- Political participation --- Public opinion --- Public opinion. --- Atlanta Journal. --- Charlotte Observer. --- Chicago Tribune. --- Dewine, Mike. --- Edwards-McNabb, Sybil. --- Erbring, Lutz. --- Feinstein, Dianne. --- Fenno, Richard. --- Gaudet, Helen. --- Glenn, John. --- Gulf War. --- Harvard Law Review. --- Hatfield, Mark. --- Heflin, Howard. --- Hollings, Ernest. --- Jewish Americans. --- Kassebaum, Nancy. --- Kingdon, John W. --- Lowery, Joseph. --- Millner, Guy. --- National Organization of Women. --- Politics in America. --- Republicans. --- Vietnam War. --- abortion. --- ballot access. --- blue-collar workers. --- core values. --- defense issues. --- foreign policy. --- group interests. --- international trade agreements. --- issue importance. --- issue publics. --- issue voting. --- key votes. --- labor issues. --- latent public opinion. --- media. --- motivation. --- newspapers. --- partisanship. --- party identification. --- priming. --- projection effect. --- religion. --- routine votes. --- salience. --- self-interest. --- term limits. --- union membership. --- women.

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"Maureen Day's "Catholic Activism Today" explores the role religion plays in individual transformation and struggle for social justice, paying specific attention to the phenomena of JustFaith Ministries (JFM) and its contributions to civic engagement"--

Christian sociology --- Social justice --- Church and social problems --- Catholic Church. --- Religious aspects --- Catholic Church --- JustFaith Ministries. --- History. --- United States. --- American life. --- Catholic Church hierarchy. --- Catholic history. --- Catholic identity. --- Catholic social teaching. --- Catholicism. --- Christianity. --- Second Vatican Council. --- authority. --- civic engagement. --- civic organizations. --- community. --- compassion. --- core values. --- demographics. --- dialogue. --- dilemma of resistance. --- discipleship style. --- engagement. --- immersion experiences. --- individual-level solutions. --- individualist. --- lay-centered theology. --- moral authority. --- religion. --- religious meaning. --- small groups. --- social justice. --- solidarity. --- theology of pragmatic reverence. --- transformation. --- volunteer. --- RELIGION / Christian Life / Social Issues. --- Church and social problems. --- Christian sociology.