"Zaller's volume is a giant step forward int he development of a systematic understanding of the dynamics
of public opinion ... This is a splendid contribution."
-- Philip E. Converse, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences
Submitted by Publisher, March, 2001
Summary
A comprehensive theory to explain how people acquire political information from the mass media and convert it
into political preferences is developed and applied to the dynamics of public opinion on a broad range of subjects.
The author argues that "to understand fully how American democracy behaves, one must probe how information
about political issues and personalities,. . . delivered through the mass media, interacts with the values and
predispositions of the citizenry to shape public opinion and influence voting. . . . {He} concludes that few positions
of US citizens are firmly anchored on any given issue."(Choice)
