This book demonstrates the consequences of legislators' strategic communication for representation in American politics. Representational Style in Congress shows how legislators present their work to cultivate constituent support. Using a massive new data set of texts from legislators and new statistical techniques to analyze the texts, this book provides comprehensive measures of what legislators say to constituents and explains why legislators adopt these styles. Using the new measures, Justin Grimmer shows how legislators affect how constituents evaluate their representatives and the consequences of strategic statements for political discourse. The introduction of new statistical techniques for political texts allows a more comprehensive and systematic analysis of what legislators say and why it matters than was previously possible. Using these new techniques, the book makes the compelling case that to understand political representation, we must understand what legislators say to c
What we mean when we say something has a mind and why it matters in our everyday lives. Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whe
Every one of us faces the need to speak up in difficult situations at some time. We may not like doing it, but not speaking up usually makes matters worse. So how do you communicate to your partner t
Matters of Opinion offers an interesting insight into 'public opinion' as reported in the media, asking where these opinions actually come from, and how they have their effects. Drawing on the analysis of conversations from focus groups, phone-ins and broadcast interviews with members of the public, Greg Myers argues that we must go back to these encounters, asking questions such as what members of the public thought they were being asked, who they were talking as, and whom they were talking to. He reveals that people don't carry a store of opinions, ready to tell strangers; they use opinions in order to get along with other people, and how they say things is as important as what they say. Engaging and informative, this book illuminates debates on research methods, the public sphere and deliberative democracy, on broadcast talk, and on what it means to participate in public life.
Everyone knows what noise is. Or do they? Can we in fact say that one man's noise is another teenager's music? Is noise in fact only an auditory phenomenon or does it extend far beyond this realm? If
If we understand anything from the Word of God, it must be that words are the most powerful thing on Earth. Jesus laid it on the line for all of us: What we say matters. We must pay attention to what
"This book about diversity offers a fresh perspective and is an important reminder to all that context matters, and what we say and do (our narrative practices) shape and are shaped by it."—Susan Murp
If we understand anything from the Word of God, it must be that words are the most powerful thing on Earth. Jesus laid it on the line for all of us: What we say matters. We must pay attention to what
Do you know what your clothes say about you? What we wear is a visual expression of our inner selves. Our clothes affect how we feel about ourselves and how people see us. How you dress matters. In
What does it mean to say that citizens have control over their leaders? In a democracy, citizens should have some control over how they are governed. If they do not participate directly in making policy, they ought to maintain control over the public officials who design policy on their behalf. Rule by Multiple Majorities develops a novel theory of popular control: an account of what it is, why democracy's promise of popular control is compatible with what we know about actual democracies, and why it matters. While social choice theory suggests there is no such thing as a 'popular will' in societies with at least minimal diversity of opinion, Ingham argues that multiple, overlapping majorities can nonetheless have control, at the same time. After resolving this conceptual puzzle, the author explains why popular control is a realistic and compelling ideal for democracies, notwithstanding voters' low levels of information and other shortcomings.
What is someone who has a perspective on religious matters to say about those who endorse other perspectives? What should they say about other religions? For example, might some of their beliefs be true? What stage are we human beings at in our religious development? Are we close to maturity, religiously speaking, so that most of the important religious ideas and innovations there will ever be have already appeared? Or are we starting out in our religious evolution, so that religious developments to date are merely the first rude efforts of a species in its religious infancy?
