Making Sense of Public Opinion: American Discourses about Immigration and Social Programs [Hardcover]

This book proposes that Americans form views on immigration and social welfare programs from conventional ways of speaking rather than from ideologies.Americans express contradictory views on immigration and social welfare programs. Claudia Strauss proposes that these views are formed not from liberal or conservative ideologies or broad values, but from conventional ways of speaking about topics. Drawing on interviews with people from a range of backgrounds, this study shows that the wording of survey questions and political messages cues a mix of vernacular discourses. This book explains what conventional discourses are, how to study them, and why they are fundamental elements of public opinions and political culture.Americans express contradictory views on immigration and social welfare programs. Claudia Strauss proposes that these views are formed not from liberal or conservative ideologies or broad values, but from conventional ways of speaking about topics. Drawing on interviews with people from a range of backgrounds, this study shows that the wording of survey questions and political messages cues a mix of vernacular discourses. This book explains what conventional discourses are, how to study them, and why they are fundamental elements of public opinions and political culture.Questions about immigration and social welfare programs raise the central issues of who belongs to a society and what its members deserve. Yet the opinions of the American public about these important issues seem contradictory and confused. Claudia Strauss explains why: public opinion on these issues and many others is formed not from liberal or conservative ideologies but from diverse vernacular discourses that may not fit standard ideologies but are easy to remember and repeat. Drawing on interviews with people from various backgrounds, Strauss identifies and describes 59 conventional discourses about immigration and social welfare and demonstrates how we acquire conventional discoursl©