Ambivalence and the Structure of Political Opinion

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. Pros and Cons

   • Michael D. Martinez, Stephen C. Craig, James G. Kane

   Pages 1-13

3. Ambivalence as Internal Conflict

   • Bethany Albertson, John Brehm, R. Michael Alvarez

   Pages 15-32

4. Ambivalence and Accessibility

   • Ian R. Newby-Clark, Ian McGregor, Mark P. Zanna

   Pages 33-53

5. Ambivalence and Response Instability

   • Stephen C. Craig, Michael D. Martinez, James G. Kane

   Pages 55-71

6. Meta-Psychological Versus Operative Measures of Ambivalence

   • Allyson L. Holbrook, Jon A. Krosnick

   Pages 73-103

7. Ambivalence Toward American Political Institutions

   • Kathleen M. McGraw, Brandon Bartels

   Pages 105-126

8. Patriotic to the Core?

   • Jack Citrin, Samantha Luks

   Pages 127-147

9. Is It Really Ambivalence?

   • William G. Jacoby

   Pages 149-172

10. Back Matter

    Pages 173-196

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This book represents an important step in bringing together various strands of research about attitudinal ambivalence and public opinion. Essays by a distinguished group of political scientists and social psychologists provide a conceptual framework for understanding how ambivalence is currently understood and measured, as well as its relevance to the mass public's beliefs about our political institutions and national identity. The theoretical insights, methodological innovations, and empirical analyses will add substantially to our knowledge about the nature of ambivalence in particular, and the structure and evolution of political attitudes in general.

• conflict
• Government
• Institution
• knowledge
• national identity

"Craig and Martinez have brought together a stellar cast to provide a state-of-the-art resource that summarizes the field and provides groundbreaking original studies on nearly all elements of ambivalence. This is a must-read for all public opinion scholars, but the theory and measurement issues raised would also help researchers in other fields conceptualize problems of duality." - Donald Haider-Markel, University of Kansas

"Ambivalence and the Structure of Public Opinion is a timely collection of the latest work on ambivalence, its theoretical meaning, its measurement, and its impact in politics. The collection explores ambivalence in issues (e.g., abortion), towards political institutions (such as Congress and the Courts), and in patriotism. Democratic politics is inevitably conflictual and so a focused consideration of ambivalence is of special value and this collection delivers a worthy array of thoughtful and empirically rich explorations of the ways in which inner conflict infuses politics." - George E. Marcus, Williams College

• University of Florida, USA

  Stephen C. Craig, Michael D. Martinez

STEPHEN C. CRAIG is Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida, USA, as well as Director of the university's Graduate Program in Political Campaigning.

MICHAEL D. MARTINEZ is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida, USA.

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