Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States

ISBN-13: 9780521793841 / Angielski / Miękka / 2002 / 372 str.

Myra Marx Ferree; William A. Gamson; Jurgen Gerhards

Opis

Using controversy over abortion as a lens through which to compare the political process and role of the media in these two very different democracies, this book examines the contest over meaning that is being waged by social movements, political parties, churches and other social actors. Abortion is a critical battleground for debates over social values in Germany and the U.S., but the constitutional premises on which arguments rest differ, as do the strategies that movements and parties adopt and the opportunities for influence that are open to them.

Recenzje

'I recommend Shaping Abortion Discourse to others interested in finding new ways to question our assumptions about the role the media plays in democratic public life.' Mobilization

Spis treści

Tables and figures; Foreword Friedhelm Neidhardt; Preface; Glossary; Part I. Introduction: 1. Two related stories; 2. Historical context; 3. Methods; Part II. Major Outcomes: 4. The discursive opportunity structure; 5. Standing; 6. Framing; Part III. Representing Different Constituencies: 7. Representing women's claims; 8. Representing religious claims; 9. Representing the tradition of the left; Part IV. The Quality of Abortion Discourse: 10. Normative criteria for the public sphere; 11. Measuring the quality of discourse; 12. Metatalk; 13. Lessons for democracy and the public sphere; Methodological appendix; References; Index.