Exploring the Roots of Public Participation - 1 -
Exploring the Roots of Public Participation
in the Controversy over Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Cloning
Kirby Goidel, Ph. D.
Director of Public Policy Research
Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs
Manship School of Mass Communication
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
E-mail: kgoidel@lsu.edu
Phone: 225-578-7588
Matthew Nisbet, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor
School of Communication
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210
E-mail: nisbet.4@osu.edu
Phone: 614-292-4040
**Address all correspondence to the first author. An earlier version of this manuscript
was presented to the 2005 meetings of the Southern Political Science Association, New
Orleans, LA, and the 2004 meetings of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion
Research, Chicago, IL.
Exploring the Roots of Public Participation - 2 -
Exploring the Roots of Public Participation
in the Controversy over Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Cloning
(Abstract)
In this study, analyzing national RDD survey data collected in the fall of 2003, we
explore the roots of issue-specific political participation, using the contemporary
controversy over embryonic stem cell research and cloning as a test case. We find that
standard demographic variables are weak and inconsistent predictors of issue-specific
forms of citizen participation as indicated by self-reported letter writing, contributing
money, persuading others, and contacting public officials. Opinion intensity and news
attentiveness are likewise inconsistent predictors of participation, while religious
mobilization is the one variable that emerges as a consistent and statistically significant
predictor. We also build on past research to develop an innovative dependent measure
tapping citizen willingness to participate in a local deliberative forum on stem cell
research and cloning. In terms of this measure, church mobilization was similarly
predictive, as were opinion intensity and attentiveness to news