Editorial

Abstract

This issue of the journal is comprised of three research articles and three research notes. The geographical coverage of the work is typically broad for the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, although settings do focus on the English speaking world. Three of the pieces address important methodological issues, while the other three involve tests of important elements of mass communication theory and political science. Adriaansen, Van Praag, and De Vreese report on a study of the impact of strategic and substantive news stories on political cynicism among a sample of Dutch citizens. They compare the youngest cohort to the rest of the population and find no effects of strategic news on cynicism in any part of the sample; but they report that substantive news they does produce cynicism among the youngest cohort. They conclude by discussing the implications of this for reversing the “spiral of cynicism.” Breznau evaluates a hypothesis about the sources of support for welfare policies based upon an interest in rectifying social inequality in society. He evaluates this in representative samples surveyed in four European samples from Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Finland, and Poland and compares the results to an Australian sample meant to reflect the non-European world outside of the United States. Employing structural equation modeling, he shows that egalitarian values are more important than self-interest in explaining preferences for a government role in providing social services, price controls and subsidies for basic needs.