Premium
Preferences, Knowledge, and Citizen Probability Assessments of the Terrorism Risk of Nuclear Power
Author(s) -
Li Quan,
Fuhrmann Matthew,
Early Bryan R.,
Vedlitz Arnold
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2011.00552.x
Subject(s) - homeland security , terrorism , public opinion , nuclear power , explanatory power , national security , nuclear power plant , risk assessment , energy security , political science , actuarial science , law , computer security , business , politics , computer science , engineering , epistemology , ecology , philosophy , physics , electrical engineering , renewable energy , nuclear physics , biology
How does the American public assess risk when it comes to national security issues? This paper addresses this question by analyzing variation in citizen probability assessments of the terrorism risk of nuclear power plants. Drawing on the literature on how motivated reasoning, selective information processing, and domain‐specific knowledge influence public opinion, we argue that heterogeneous issue preferences and knowledge of nuclear energy and homeland security have important explanatory power. Using original data from a unique 2009 national survey in the United States, we show that Americans are divided in their probability assessments of the terrorism risk of nuclear power plants. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, individuals who support using nuclear power to meet rising energy demands, who are generally less concerned with terrorism, or who are more knowledgeable about terrorism and nuclear security tend to provide lower assessments of the likelihood that nuclear power plants increase terrorist attacks, and vice versa. The findings have implications for the literature on public opinion, risk assessment, energy policy and planning, and homeland security.