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Public Spending on the Arts as Morality Policy: The Structure of Public Attitudes
Author(s) -
Lewis Gregory B.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.2006.00149.x
Subject(s) - immorality , cognitive reframing , morality , the arts , political science , politics , public morality , salience (neuroscience) , civil liberties , public administration , public policy , human sexuality , public opinion , sociology , social policy , law , social psychology , psychology , cognitive psychology
Successfully reframing a political issue as morality policy should strengthen the hand of those charging immorality. However, reframers face a daunting task in shifting public opinion. In 1989, Christian conservatives attempted to reframe the debate over federal funding for the arts from waste to immorality, by attacking grants for “anti‐Christian” and “homoerotic” art. Using General Social Survey data from before, during, and after the attempted reframing, this article assesses the reframers’ success in heightening the salience of religion, commitment to civil liberties, and attitudes toward sexuality in public thinking about government spending on the arts.