Question 5: Zaller's Model

Question 1

Information

Answer 1

• Messages from political elites (through media)

Question 2

Political Awareness

Answer 2

• Exposure to and comprehension of political messages in the media

Question 3

Predispositions

Answer 3

• Stable beliefs and values we already hold

Question 4

Mainstream

Answer 4

1. Information = One-sided, meaning there is not differences in the message that political elites are giving to the public
2. Political awareness = Determines exposure and comprehension of the information
3. Predispositions = Acceptance does not depend on predispositions

**When the information is one sided, predispositions do not matter and there is not polarization – so democrats and republicans think along the same lines because democrat and republican elites are providing the same information. (Mainstream = on the same page)

Question 5

Polarization

Answer 5

1. Information = Two-sided, political elites of the different parties are providing a different message to the public.
2. Political awareness = Determines exposure and comprehension of the information
3. Predispositions = Acceptance depends on predispositions

Question 6

Affects the media’s ability to persuade

Answer 6

1. Source of the communication
   
   • Do the people trust the source or not?
2. Nature of communication
   
   • One or two sided?
3. Nature of audience
   
   • Exposure, comprehension, acceptance

Question 7

What does this mean?

Answer 7

1. Media coverage can change opinion, but its effects are contingent:
   
   • on people’s exposure to the news [political awareness]
   • on the particular messages in the news, and the sources of those messages [information]
   • people’s pre-existing values and beliefs [predispositions]
2. Media effects are strongest when exposure to information is high, sources are credible, and predispositions don’t resist messages
3. Helps explain why public opinion is generally stable – but why it does often change as the positions of political elites change