Muffled Echoes: Oliver North and the Politics of Public Opinion

by Amy Fried

Overview

Ten years ago the Iran-Contra affair swept the headlines as the nation watched an indignant Lt. Col. Oliver North testify before a congressional committee. Although polls showed that most Americans were critical of North's actions and ambivalent toward the man himself, media coverage left the opposite impression, with its broadcasts of "Ollie-for-president" rallies and stories of congressional aides overwhelmed by a torrent of pro-North mail.

In this book, public opinion is more than the sum of a pollster's tally; instead, Amy Fried defines it as a political tool, integral to the political process, where vested interests compete to legitimize their interpretation of the public voice. Fried explores the construction, interpretation, and uses of public opinion, raising important questions about the media and the role of special interest groups in determining policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231108218
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	07/31/1997
Series:	Power, Conflict, and Democracy: American Politics Into the 21st Century
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.03(w) x 9.03(h) x 0.76(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Amy Fried is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Maine. She is the author of Muffled Echoes: Oliver North and the Politics of Public Opinion(Columbia University Press, 1997) and Pathways to Polling: Crisis, Cooperation, and the Making of Public Opinion Professions (Routledge Press, 2012). Her scholarly work has also appeared in edited volumes and journals.

Editorial Reviews

A masterful combination of theorizing and rich data analysis that provides a deeper and richer account of public opinion than has hitherto been published. This lucid account is an invaluable addition to the literature on public opinion. I also found it to be a major contribution to empirical democratic theory.

George E. Marcus