On Hearing and Interpreting Political Messages: A Cautionary Tale of Citizen Cue-Taking

James H. Kuklinski, Norman L. Hurley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Recent research documents the widespread use of heuristics, especially a reliance on elite cues among citizens. Scholars have celebrated this mode of decision making as rational and effective. Using experimental survey data collected from white and African-American respondents, we also identify what appears to be a strong influence of elite messages on mass political judgments, but only among our black respondents. More importantly, the data reveal some of the perils of cue-taking. Although rational, this heuristic may not always be effective.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)729-751
Number of pages23
JournalThe Journal of Politics
Volume56
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science

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