Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States (Communication, Society and Politics)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 9/16/2002
EAN 9780521790451, ISBN10: 052179045X
Hardcover, 372 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
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 both countries, 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. By examining how these debates are conducted and by whom in light of the normative claims made by democratic theorists, the book also offers a means of judging how well either country lives up to the ideals of democratic debate in practice.
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.