Public Perceptions of Expert Credibility on Policy Issues: The Role of Expert Framing and Political Worldviews

How do individuals assess the credibility of experts in various policy domains? Under what conditions does the public interpret particular scientific knowledge claims as being trustworthy and credible? Using data collected from an online survey experiment, administered to 1,507 adult residents of Quebec, this paper seeks answers to these questions. Specifically, we examine variation in the way members of the public perceive the credibility of scientific experts in the areas of climate change, shale gas extraction, cell phones, and wind farms. Our results contribute to the existing literatures on public perceptions of policy experts, framing, and cultural theory. We find that individuals evaluate expert credibility based on the way in which experts frame issues, and on the congruity/dissonance between these expert communication frames and one's underlying worldview. However, we also identify limits to these framing effects. Our findings shed light on the interaction of framing and political worldviews in shaping public perceptions of expert credibility in various policymaking contexts.     

A Behavioral Theory of Policy Feedback in Tobacco Control: Evidence From a Difference‐In‐Difference‐In‐Difference Study

Public policy scholars argue that in highly tangible policies, such as tobacco control, the public learns from the direct experience of the beneficial effects of the policy. Empirical evidence supports this argument, suggesting that in the United States the introduction of tobacco control measures makes people more inclined to further regulation. By relying on a set of cases which allows testing the effects of the introduction of tobacco control measures across European countries on a series of relevant variables, this study confirms that the introduction of tobacco control measures makes the public more inclined to further regulation. Yet, when the effects of these policies are disaggregated between smokers and nonsmokers, results show that these positive effects are driven by smokers. This puzzle suggests that different effects than mass attitudinal policy feedback effects, driven by learning from direct experience, might explain the positive reaction to tobacco control. This study puts forward a behavioral theory of policy feedback, which suggests that smokers react positively to the introduction of tobacco control measures because they see these measures as commitment devices, which can help them quit smoking. Evidence for this argument is found by demonstrating that the introduction of tobacco control measures increases smokers’ welfare.     

国民休闲计划与旅游弹性消费——基于旅游应对危机的政策选择

国际金融危机对我国旅游业的冲击具有自身的阶段特性、传导路径和影响领域,在“突机破危”的特殊环境下,出现了从“大众旅游”向“国民休闲”的转变趋势,而国民休闲计划也随之成为旅游减危排危、扩大旅游弹性消费的有效途径。为此,必须充分认识国民休闲的消费约束,重点撬动四类旅游市场,扩大旅游弹性消费空间,并适时出台一系列有效的杠杆政策,以推动国民休闲计划的顺利实施。     

目的地居民对旅游影响的评价研究——来自山东省的实证检验

运用Ap和Crompton（1998）提出的旅游影响量表,本文从经济、社会文化、拥挤程度、环境、服务和社区态度等方面实证检验了山东省的目的地居民对旅游影响的感知程度、对旅游影响的态度以及对旅游影响的综合评价,探讨了目的地居民对旅游影响的感知与他们对旅游影响的态度之间的关系。研究结果表明,多数情况下目的地居民对旅游影响的感知与态度之间并不相关。     

制度设计与多维互动：清道光年间徽州振兴科考的一次尝试——以《绩溪捐助宾兴盘费规条》为中心的考察

明清时期徽州府属各县的教育发展水平及发展程度呈现出不均衡的现象.由于商业势力及经济实力的相对滞后,绩溪的教育发展水平一直居于徽州府较次的位置.清道光年间,随着商业实力的相对增强以及休宁县成功事例的示范效应,绩溪县地方官府、社会精英、宗族、文会以及宗族成员开始日益重视并致力于振兴科考的努力,各行为主体相互之间围绕着筹集乡试盘费资金以及与此相关的一系列制度设计等主题,展开了积极有效的良性互动.绩溪县地方官府、社会精英、宗族、典商等围绕科举这一主题所进行的制度设计与多维互动,是清代道光年间徽州地域社会内振兴科考的一次有益的尝试.