Researchers have found that higher education is known to stabilize political opinions and thought to enhance critical thinking skills. The role that an individual's level of education plays in shaping public opinion during a foreign affairs crisis, within the context of repetitious and uniform news media coverage, has yet to be determined. The theoretical foundation of agenda-setting explains how salience is created by emphasizing certain messages and influencing public opinion and may bypass education and political knowledge. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between education level and public opinion immediately before the Iraq War. The analysis used a secondary dataset consisting of 3,262 respondents in a 2002 national public opinion survey. Binomial logistic regression was used to test 5 hypotheses. Findings indicated there was a significant relationship between education levels and support for combatting international terrorism as a foreign policy goal as well as the use of troops to invade Iraq (p < .006). The results indicated that in some instances higher education played a significant role in shaping public opinion during the period before the Iraq War. Positive social change from this research includes helping policy-makers understand how public opinion is shaped during a crisis so the views of the citizenry can be more effectively incorporated into the policy-making process.

人類進入21 世紀，原本應是強調多元、協調、和平、進步的氛圍，但竟然就 在連第一個十年的一半都尚未結束，就爆發了即使是戰亂頻繁的20 世紀也難 得一見的大規模戰爭─伊拉克戰爭；當然，伊拉克戰爭有著基督教世界與回教 世界對抗的歷史遠因，也有著美國遭受911 恐怖攻擊的近因，但其所造成的影 響可能會牽動21 世紀。 伊拉克戰爭自然是眾所矚目的重大國際新聞事件，過去一向遭質疑國際觀不夠 的台灣媒體並沒有在報導此重大新聞中缺席，甚至，許多媒體還派出記者親赴 戰區傳回第一手新聞，加上新傳播科技的助力，從統計分析來看，台灣主要報 紙媒體在報導21 世紀頭一場戰爭中的表現，較過去為醒目。但本研究分析國 內3 大主要報紙媒體有關伊拉克戰爭的報導，並在相同的基礎上對比美國專業 新聞標竿與輿論領導品牌Washington Post，再納入事件行銷概念，希望能以更佳的高度、廣度、和深度上，探究國內報紙媒體報導國際重大新聞事件的作為。 / As it ushered in the 21st century, the world was supposed to enter an atmosphere that focused on peace, diversity, harmony and progress. However, in less than half of the first decade of the century, the United States waged a war on Iraq. The large scale of the war was even rarely seen in the 20th century that was frequently troubled by wars and turmoil. Of course, the centuries-old conflict between Christianity and Islam is one reason, while the terrorists attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 is another. The Iraq war could have a profound impact on the rest of the 21st century. The Iraq war received the attention of the media worldwide, including those in Taiwan that had often been criticized for the lack of sufficient international news coverage. Many media outlets even assigned reporters to the war zone in Iraq for the first-hand reporting with the use of new technologies. Statistics collected for this paper show that major newspapers in Taiwan have provided improved coverage for the first war in the 21st century than previous wars. This paper’s analysis focuses on Iraq war-related reports in three major Chinese-language newspapers in Taiwan and compares them with those reports in the Washington Post, a leading and influential U.S. newspaper. To provide a wide-scope and in-depth analysis, this paper also aims to discuss the role of the concept of event marketing in the coverage of major international events by news media in Taiwan.

Persuasive appeals posted to United States presidential candidates’ YouTube videos were coded using a grounded theory mixed-methods design. 37,562 comments about education, energy, Iraq, health care, the economy, and the presidential debates were randomly collected by date and time for three studies using coding analysis: pilot, presidential primaries, and the presidential election. Seven argument types were identified and theoretically refined according to dual process models of persuasion: reason-based, candidate-based, emotion-based, endorsements, enthusiasmheuristic, other-interest and self-interest. Theoretical comparisons and hypothesis testing of argument types were conducted by issue and election event. Consistent with impression involvement, reason-based appeals were more frequent during the primaries, whereas consistent with value and outcome involvement, emotion- and candidate-based appeals were more frequent during the election.

This paper revisits one of the more frequented stops at the crossroads of politics and morality in contemporary ethical theory, Michael Walzer’s essay “Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands.” The aim is to provide a fresh assessment of Walzer’s project, and to evaluate the tenability of its core notion of “dirty hands.” In pursuit of this aim, the effort is made to reopen the paths which take Walzer to his celebrated impasse, from two directions. The first of these resituates Walzer’s analysis in the context of the debate within Anglo-American ethical theory in which it is originally expounded. The second route seeks to recapture the trail of thinkers who guide Walzer to his conclusions from more remote locations in intellectual history, in order to determine the reliability of his intriguing constellation of Machiavelli, Weber and Camus as lodestars. Writing thirty years later, one of Walzer’s friendliest interpreters, Jean Elshtain, in the midst of her enthusiasm for ‘dirty hands,’ renews doubts about his recommendation of “casuistry.” Hints from throughout Walzer’s essay, incompletely elaborated there, are parceled together into closing suggestions as to an alternative approach to so-called ‘dirty hands’ situations. / text

This thesis analyzes the role of the global media in world politics. The global media as a major source of information performs many functions in world politics. Due to the technological innovations both the global media and world politics has extended their scope and content. It is the aim of this thesis to explore to what extent the global media and world politics changes and to what extent the global media affect world politics. Moreover, this thesis aims to analyze the actors that play a significant role in the relation of global media and world politics. This thesis will also question the importance and effects of global media in world politics through the examples of Iraq War of 2003. This thesis argues that global media are the important actor of world politics by their agenda-setting, impediment and accelerant effects which influences public opinion. The aim of this thesis is to question the power of the global media on public opinion through the existential media structures, while showing the effects of global media by the examples of Iraq War of 2003.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-149).

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Jan 8, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Jan 11, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on April 1, 2010). Department of Sociology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Carol Brooks Gardner, Carrie E. Foote, Lynn M. Pike. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-74).

Thesis (M. A.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Peter Garretson, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept.14, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vi,142 pages. Includes bibliographical references.