Agenda-setting hypotheses inform political communications studies of media influence (public agenda-setting), as well as examinations of the policymaking process (policy agenda-setting). In both cases, studies concentrate on the salience of issues on actors' agendas, and the dynamic process through which these agendas change and effect each other. The results, narrowly conceived, offer a means of observing media effects or the policy process. Broadly conceived, agenda-setting analyses speak to the nature of relationships between major actors in a political system. This study differs from most past agenda-setting research in several ways. First, this project draws together public and policy agenda-setting work to build a more comprehensive model of the expanded agenda-setting process. Secondly, the modeling makes no assumptions about the directions of causal influence - econometric methods are used to establish causality, allowing for a more nuanced and accurate model of issue dynamics. Quantitative evidence is derived from a longitudinal dataset (1985-1995) including the following: a content analysis of Canadian newspapers (media agenda), 'most important problem' results from all available commercial polls (public agenda), and measures of attention to issues in Question Period, committees, Throne Speeches, government spending, and legislative initiatives (policy agenda). Data is collected for eight issues: AIDS, crime, debt/deficit, environment, inflation, national unity, taxation, and unemployment. The present study, then, is well situated to add unique information to several ongoing debates in agenda-setting studies, and provide a bird's eye view of the media-public-policy dynamics in Canadian politics. Many hypotheses are introduced and tested. Major findings include: (1) there is a Canadian national media agenda; (2) the salience of issues tends to rise and fall simultaneously across Canada, although regional variation exists based on audience attributes and issue obtrusiveness; (3) there is no adequate single measure of the policy agenda - government attention to issues must be measured at several points, and these tend to be only loosely related; (4) the agenda-setting dynamics of individual issues are directly and systematically related to attributes such as prominence and duration; (5) Canadian media and public agendas can be affected by the US media agenda. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Includes bibliographical references. / While no one impact is identical to the next, the case of the University of Cape Town's purchase and take-over of two local flat complexes; Forest Hills and Liesbeek Gardens; represented a unique opportunity to compare two impacts analogous in all respects but time. Because one impact had already occurred and the other had not yet begun, the accuracy of social impact predictions could thereby be assessed. Through the use of self-administered questionnaires, the local perceptions of Forest Hills and local cognitions of Liesbeek Gardens were drawn out and compared. So doing, this study concludes that perceptions of potential impact show little correspondence to the actuality of such an impact should it occur without intervening mitigatory initiatives. Since pro-active planning procedures rely to a large degree on the accuracy of impact prediction, such findings suggest strategic flaws within the analytical framework of Social Impact Assessment. Included within the qualitative findings of this report are recommendations as to how the conflict stemming from these impacts might be resolved.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the image of the University of North Texas as perceived by the University Administration and Board of Regents, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Baord and selected Legislators, and the Boards of Directors of the Metroplex area Chambers of Commerce. The significance of the study was to contribute knowledge that could be used to construct a more direct and cost effective marketing plan.

The political economy transformations of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have received a great deal of attention over the past decade. The focus of much research has been to examine the internal national reorientations of the countries with regard to the changes in political and economic conditions. The importance of the international reorientation of these countries toward Western Europe in general and the European Union in particular has been generally overlooked. This dissertation examines public opinion on the political and economic transformations within the framework of the direction of the international reorientations of the countries. The countries were divided into three categories, those that can be expected to be invited to join the European Union in the next enlargement, those that can be expected to join the European Union in a subsequent enlargement, and the countries not seeking European Union membership. Public opinion on democracy and the market economy and attitudinal factors that influence these opinions are compared in 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The data are from the Central and East European Barometers 3-7 (1992 - 1996). The findings suggest that general opinions regarding satisfaction with democracy are not related to the status of the country seeking membership in the European Union while support from the market economy does differ. When examining attitudinal factors that are related to satisfaction with democracy and support for the market economy, differences emerged between the three categories of countries. These findings suggest that public opinion is in part shaped by the international orientations of the country and that changes in public opinion are important in understanding the political and economic transformation processes.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de faire ressortir dans le cadre d’une comparaison historique les différences et les points communs dans l’évolution des attitudes et des comportements dans des sociétés française et belge sous l’occupation. Le focus thématique se concentre sur la perception de l’occupant, des alliés, de l’évolution de la guerre, des dirigeants politiques et du destin de la population juive, tout en distinguant entre des tendances d’opinion dans la bourgeoisie, dans les classes moyennes, chez les ouvriers et dans la population rurale. Des documents des services allemands, notamment ceux des administrations militaires, des représentations diplomatiques et des « Instituts allemands » sont la base des sources pour les pays étudiés. Nous utilisons également les analyses d’opinion des services britanniques chargés de la propagande et du renseignement. Pour la France ce sont les rapports des préfets et des forces de l’ordre de quelques départements représentatifs qui forment la base du travail, complété par des documents de la France Libre et des documents personnels comme des journaux intimes. Pour la Belgique ce sont surtout les rapports de la partie de l’administration belge restée sur place pendant l’occupation, des rapports du gouvernement belge en exil à Londres et les fonds des réseaux de renseignent travaillant pour lui. / The thesis deals with a comparison of the evolution of people’s opinion in France and Belgium during the Second World War. The focus of this study lies on the perceptions of the German occupier, the Allies, and the development on the different theatres of war, by the French and Belgian populations. Furthermore, the reactions of these two peoples towards their own political leaders and the fate of the Jewish population are studied. Special attention is given to opinion variations in different social groups such as the bourgeoisie, the middle class, the working class or the rural population. The study is based on an extensive analysis of documents of the various German authorities in occupied France and Belgium, especially the military administration, the German embassies in Paris and Brussels as well as the “German institutes”. We also make use of documents from British services, especially those in charge of propaganda and intelligence gathering. For France, the detailed reports of French prefects, police and postal control services are used in a representative sample of départments, reflecting regional differences in mentality, population composition and occupation. These documents are complemented by observations from the Free French Forces and personal testimonies such as diaries. In Belgium, reports of the Belgian authorities in the occupied territory were used as well as of those in exile in London and documents from some of the resistance networks.

This study investigated the various sources of information utilized by a sample of the Oregon adult population to gain information and ideas about the wildlife resource. The results were compared to those of a study of college and university students and their sources of information that gave them anti-hunting attitudes. The basic question posed was: What sources of information are most commonly utilized by a sample of Oregon’s population in obtaining ideas and information concerning the wildlife resource and do the proportions of various sources utilized compare with those indicated by college students as sources of anti-hunting sentiments? Additional questions asked of the subjects revealed less anti-hunting sentiment than in many portions of the United States and further hinted at simple bias in the direction of pro-hunting attitudes.

Between 1905 and 1915 the aeroplane was tested at exhibitions and became a practical machine. Some observers, however, greeted this technological marvel with ambivalence. Skeptics felt that if the aeroplane could alter common perceptions about natural laws, it might also challenge time honored ideals and attitudes about the nature of man. In response, newspapers and magazines fashioned the aviator's image. The aviator was daring yet responsible, romantic yet reasonable. Some writers and reporters believed that an aviator's self-confidence and high moral character contributed to control in the air. By controlling the aeroplane with mastery and grace, an aviator remained master of the machine and an example of a proper way to adjust to technological changes. Oregonians witnessed significant aviation events between 1905 and 1915. Oregon's newspapers and magazines analyzed the aviator's struggle for control at exhibitions in a manner consistent with coverage in national publications. The aviator was a birdman, a new type of man, triumphant over technology and natural forces, in part because he possessed the noblest human qualities. After 1912 the aviator's image changed. Technological advance made spirals and loops anachronistic. The idea that an aviator was in complete control had been shattered at exhibitions where many had been killed. These deaths did not lessen the aviator's daring appeal, but they did lead to questions about their sanity. With the advent of world War I people could no longer believe that an aviator was a responsible steward for the aeroplane. Governments and businesses took greater interest in the aeroplane, and the aviator's appeal as an individual in a personal struggle for control diminished. Most bibliographical sources consulted were primary. Newspapers, magazines and manuscripts were studied extensively because contemporary accounts focused on cultural responses to the aeroplane. Modern secondary sources often detail technological advances but pay little attention to the aviator's image. This study presents a look at the cultural changes that came with the aeroplane and asserts that the building of the aviator's image was one response to fears about change.

The question of Russia’s relationship to Western European culture has been discussed by historians of Russian civilization for several centuries. This study aims to broaden the understanding of that relationship by investigating some of the conditions of eighteenth century Russia and Europe which led the Western Europeans to formulate an image of Russia, of Russian civilization, and of the role that Russia should play in Western European affairs. This study attempts to provide the views of a cross-section of eighteenth century Western Europeans and Americans toward the Russia of Empress Catherine II, 1762-1796.

This study examined the influence of interpersonal and mass communication on heterosexual people's attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In addition, the study examined the relationship between heterosexual people's tolerance for ambiguity, a personality factor, and their attitude toward homosexuality. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 149 heterosexual respondents at a small private university in the western United States. Three pre-existing instruments were used in the study: the Attitude Toward Homosexuality Scale (ATHS), the Index of Homophobia (IHP ), and the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (MSTAT-1). Two original instruments were also used: a set of four questions on contemporary gay issues and a survey assessing individuals' perceived sources of information on homosexuality. Frequency of both interpersonal and mass communication was found to be negatively correlated with support for gay issues. In addition, frequency of interpersonal communication was found to negatively correlate with homophobia (IHP). Tolerance of ambiguity negatively correlated with heterosexism on all measures. No statistically significant differences were found between the perceived credibility of interpersonal and mass communication sources. The results of a stepwise regression suggest that attitudes toward homosexuals can be most parsimoniously predicted by the number of acquaintances an individual has who are openly gay or lesbian and gender. Men were found to be considerably more heterosexist than women, except in the case of attitudes toward lesbians for which men's heterosexism was substantially reduced. Although a weak relationship exists between tolerance for ambiguity and attitudes toward homosexuality, tolerance of ambiguity does not appear to be a strong predictor of heterosexism. Interpersonal and mass communication sources exhibited no statistically significant residual effect on attitudes toward homosexuality after stronger predictors (number of gay acquaintances, gender, and tolerance of ambiguity) were entered into the stepwise regression. These results suggest that "coming out" may be the best means of reducing heterosexism in society.

This case study examined the San Francisco Mayoral Office's public relations management of the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses. The research was conductedas a case-study, integrating a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the results suggested that the Mayoral Office's campaign was successful in meeting its goal of marrying same-sex couples; the Office was somewhat effective in getting its primary messages reported by the print media, and the Office utilized innovative strategies to reach its key publics through the use of diverse spokespersons and a humanizing focus. Five major implications emerged from the study. First, crisis planning is essential to the effective management of crisis situations. Second, humanizing controversial messages to target audiences can be very effective. Third, providing media training to spokespersons can improve the organization's overall message. Fourth, segmenting key messages within the target audience is fundamental. Fifth, spokespersons' roles can have a significant impact on the public's perception of an organization's management of a crisis situation.