Political Environments, Cohesive Social Groups, and the Communication of Public Opinion

Abstract

Theory: A theory of political communication is employed which stresses the importance of citizen discussion beyond the boundaries of cohesive groups for the dissemination of public opinion. Hypotheses: If the social communication of political information is bounded by cohesive social groups and strong social ties, we should expect the social flow of political information to be independent from opinion distributions in the larger environment. In contrast, when social communication extends beyond socially cohesive groups, the flow of information should reflect these opinion distributions. Methods: We analyze a 1992 election survey which includes a battery of questions regarding the construction of respondents' social networks. The analysis is undertaken with respect to opinion distributions in the larger environments (counties) where the respondents reside. Results: Individuals are differentially exposed to larger environments of opinion depending on micro environmental patterns of social interaction and political communication. Hence, the construction of a citizen's social network serves as a filter on the macro environmental flow of political information. In this way, the consequences of the larger environment of opinion depend on the existence of micro environments which expose citizens to surrounding opinion distributions.