James W Stoutenborough
Biographic Data
| ID | 1488678 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James W Stoutenborough |
| GIVEN NAMES | James W |
| FAMILY NAME | Stoutenborough |
| SIGNATURE | STOUTENBOROUGH J W |
| AFFILIATIONS | Idaho State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9519-0251 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 226 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Strategy, Narratives, and Reading the Public
Recent research on policy narratives shows that stakeholders strategically switch away from their preferred policy narrative to a different policy narrative in an effort to better appeal to the public. While this level of strategic decision making may not be surprising, frameworks such as the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) do not currently outline a theoretical explanation to predict when and why this behavior may occur at the micro, or individ…
Understanding Trust in Government
Bureaucratic expertise, overconfidence, and policy choice
Classic theory on bureaucracy suggests that one primary source of bureaucratic power in public administration and the policy‐making process derives from bureaucratic issue‐specific expertise. Studies in psychology and behavioral economics suggest that experienced experts tend to be overconfident in estimating their expertise, but few researchers have examined whether experienced bureaucrats are prone to overconfidence and, if so, how overconfiden…
Content matters
Stakeholders include scientists, interest groups, leaders, professionals, government and NGO employees, and activists; they are individuals or groups that play an increasingly important role in public policy. As such, stakeholders are frequently used as a source to better inform public decision making. Given the growing importance of stakeholders’ understanding and thus communication concerning the issues on which they inform the public, it is ti…
Is “fracking” a new dirty word? The influence of word choice on public views toward natural gas attitudes
A response to “Word choice matters
Do stakeholders analyze their audience? The communication switch and stakeholder personal versus public communication choices
Do We Understand What the Public Hears? Stakeholders' Preferred Communication Choices for Discussing River Issues with the Public
Communication between stakeholders and the larger public is an increasingly important issue in today's policy world. This communication often takes the form of policy narratives; however, few studies have empirically examined what type of communication style stakeholders prefer for communication with the public. This study uses a survey of 87 river stakeholders to determine the preferred communication choices of stakeholders. The study finds that…
How to win friends and influence people
The use of scientific information in the policy-making process is prevalent in today’s society, and political figures frequently consult scientists and experts when considering complex issues like climate change. While policy process literature concerning agenda setting and policy networks, such as epistemic communities and advocacy coalitions, considers the role of scientists in policymaking, very little work has provided insight into the relati…
The Influence of Specific Risk Perceptions on Public Policy Support
A great deal of research has been dedicated to understanding the relationship of public preferences to public policy. Much of this literature, though, does not account for risk perception, an important characteristic that affects individuals' preferences. In terms of policy, those who perceive high risk in association with a particular issue should be more likely to oppose policies that would increase that risk, and, conversely, support policies …
Climate scientists and environmental interest groups
Whether through the accumulation of research suggesting that climate change is underway, or through critics' attacks on the objectivity of scientists, scientists play a key role in shaping public perceptions of climate change. As such, the actions of climate scientists have great potential to influence the policy process. We seek to understand one such action by scientists affiliating with environmental interest groups. We analyze the determinant…
Public Support for Climate Change Policy
This study examines the factors that explain public preferences for a set of climate change policy alternatives. While scholarly work indicates a relationship between attitudes and values on views toward specific issues, the literature often examines general support for issues rather than specific policy proposals. Consequently, it is unclear the extent to which these attitudes and values affect specific policy considerations. This project examin…
Knowledge, risk, and policy support
Citizens, Nonprofits and Climate Change Policy
The issue of climate change and its potential effects on natural and human systems is becoming more prevalent on citizen and policymaker agendas. Studies of the factors framing citizen levels of concern about climate change and potential policy reactions to it are mainly framed around traditional causal explanations like socioeconomic status, political ideology, personal vulnerability, and knowledge. The present study, building on Stern et al.’s …
The effect of perceived and assessed knowledge of climate change on public policy concerns
Explaining Popular Trust in the Department of Homeland Security
Research reveals that levels of reported trust in government are at a relatively low level—among the lowest in the period studied. At the same time, reported approval for specific administrative agencies varies widely, with some agencies receiving little support and others a great deal. This raises an important question: what factors drive trust in specific agencies? This article investigates the question in relation to the Department of Homeland…
Geographic Proximity in the Diffusion of Concealed Weapons Permit Laws
Previous research has failed to adequately address why we should expect the diffusion of policy innovations in the realm of gun policy. As a social regulatory policy, gun policy may be highly influenced by policy adoptions in neighboring regions, in part due to the high likelihood of spillover effects. This article discusses under what conditions we should expect policy diffusion to occur from neighboring jurisdictions. We use event‐history analy…
Forthcoming Articles
Public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial scholars have long debated the notion that Court decisions can influence the public's attitudes toward the U.S. Supreme Court. We engage this literature by introducing new dimensions to existing theory for predicting the impact of Court decisions on public confidence in the Court and by introducing innovative methods to test our hypotheses. We begin our analysis by examining the relationship between specific Court decisions and public co…
Encouraging Pollution‐Free Energy
Objective. As the price of energy swells, renewable energy sources will serve as important alternatives to fossil fuels. Identifying what influences a state to adopt a policy that promotes the construction of renewable energy sources is an important step toward understanding the nature of our future energy supplies. Methods. Using an event‐history analysis, we examine three competing diffusion explanations on the likelihood of a state adopting ne…
Reassessing the Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on Public Opinion
The theoretical and empirical debate over the ability of the U.S. Supreme Court to influence public opinion through its decisions is far from settled. Scholars have examined the question using a variety of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence, but there is no theoretical consensus, nor are the empirical studies without methodological weaknesses. We enter this debate in an attempt to bring some clarity to the theoretical approaches, ove…
Reassessing the Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on Public Opinion
The theoretical and empirical debate over the ability of the U.S. Supreme Court to influence public opinion through its decisions is far from settled. Scholars have examined the question using a variety of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence, but there is no theoretical consensus, nor are the empirical studies without methodological weaknesses. We enter this debate in an attempt to bring some clarity to the theoretical approaches, ove…
The effect of perceived and assessed knowledge of climate change on public policy concerns
Bureaucratic expertise, overconfidence, and policy choice
Classic theory on bureaucracy suggests that one primary source of bureaucratic power in public administration and the policy‐making process derives from bureaucratic issue‐specific expertise. Studies in psychology and behavioral economics suggest that experienced experts tend to be overconfident in estimating their expertise, but few researchers have examined whether experienced bureaucrats are prone to overconfidence and, if so, how overconfiden…
Explaining Popular Trust in the Department of Homeland Security
Research reveals that levels of reported trust in government are at a relatively low level—among the lowest in the period studied. At the same time, reported approval for specific administrative agencies varies widely, with some agencies receiving little support and others a great deal. This raises an important question: what factors drive trust in specific agencies? This article investigates the question in relation to the Department of Homeland…
Public Support for Climate Change Policy
This study examines the factors that explain public preferences for a set of climate change policy alternatives. While scholarly work indicates a relationship between attitudes and values on views toward specific issues, the literature often examines general support for issues rather than specific policy proposals. Consequently, it is unclear the extent to which these attitudes and values affect specific policy considerations. This project examin…
Strategy, Narratives, and Reading the Public
Recent research on policy narratives shows that stakeholders strategically switch away from their preferred policy narrative to a different policy narrative in an effort to better appeal to the public. While this level of strategic decision making may not be surprising, frameworks such as the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) do not currently outline a theoretical explanation to predict when and why this behavior may occur at the micro, or individ…
Encouraging Pollution‐Free Energy
Objective. As the price of energy swells, renewable energy sources will serve as important alternatives to fossil fuels. Identifying what influences a state to adopt a policy that promotes the construction of renewable energy sources is an important step toward understanding the nature of our future energy supplies. Methods. Using an event‐history analysis, we examine three competing diffusion explanations on the likelihood of a state adopting ne…
Do stakeholders analyze their audience? The communication switch and stakeholder personal versus public communication choices
Is “fracking” a new dirty word? The influence of word choice on public views toward natural gas attitudes
Citizens, Nonprofits and Climate Change Policy
The issue of climate change and its potential effects on natural and human systems is becoming more prevalent on citizen and policymaker agendas. Studies of the factors framing citizen levels of concern about climate change and potential policy reactions to it are mainly framed around traditional causal explanations like socioeconomic status, political ideology, personal vulnerability, and knowledge. The present study, building on Stern et al.’s …
Public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial scholars have long debated the notion that Court decisions can influence the public's attitudes toward the U.S. Supreme Court. We engage this literature by introducing new dimensions to existing theory for predicting the impact of Court decisions on public confidence in the Court and by introducing innovative methods to test our hypotheses. We begin our analysis by examining the relationship between specific Court decisions and public co…
The Influence of Specific Risk Perceptions on Public Policy Support
A great deal of research has been dedicated to understanding the relationship of public preferences to public policy. Much of this literature, though, does not account for risk perception, an important characteristic that affects individuals' preferences. In terms of policy, those who perceive high risk in association with a particular issue should be more likely to oppose policies that would increase that risk, and, conversely, support policies …
Content matters
Stakeholders include scientists, interest groups, leaders, professionals, government and NGO employees, and activists; they are individuals or groups that play an increasingly important role in public policy. As such, stakeholders are frequently used as a source to better inform public decision making. Given the growing importance of stakeholders’ understanding and thus communication concerning the issues on which they inform the public, it is ti…
Do We Understand What the Public Hears? Stakeholders' Preferred Communication Choices for Discussing River Issues with the Public
Communication between stakeholders and the larger public is an increasingly important issue in today's policy world. This communication often takes the form of policy narratives; however, few studies have empirically examined what type of communication style stakeholders prefer for communication with the public. This study uses a survey of 87 river stakeholders to determine the preferred communication choices of stakeholders. The study finds that…
How to win friends and influence people
The use of scientific information in the policy-making process is prevalent in today’s society, and political figures frequently consult scientists and experts when considering complex issues like climate change. While policy process literature concerning agenda setting and policy networks, such as epistemic communities and advocacy coalitions, considers the role of scientists in policymaking, very little work has provided insight into the relati…
Climate scientists and environmental interest groups
Whether through the accumulation of research suggesting that climate change is underway, or through critics' attacks on the objectivity of scientists, scientists play a key role in shaping public perceptions of climate change. As such, the actions of climate scientists have great potential to influence the policy process. We seek to understand one such action by scientists affiliating with environmental interest groups. We analyze the determinant…
Geographic Proximity in the Diffusion of Concealed Weapons Permit Laws
Previous research has failed to adequately address why we should expect the diffusion of policy innovations in the realm of gun policy. As a social regulatory policy, gun policy may be highly influenced by policy adoptions in neighboring regions, in part due to the high likelihood of spillover effects. This article discusses under what conditions we should expect policy diffusion to occur from neighboring jurisdictions. We use event‐history analy…
A response to “Word choice matters
Reassessing the Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on Public Opinion
The theoretical and empirical debate over the ability of the U.S. Supreme Court to influence public opinion through its decisions is far from settled. Scholars have examined the question using a variety of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence, but there is no theoretical consensus, nor are the empirical studies without methodological weaknesses. We enter this debate in an attempt to bring some clarity to the theoretical approaches, ove…
Public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial scholars have long debated the notion that Court decisions can influence the public's attitudes toward the U.S. Supreme Court. We engage this literature by introducing new dimensions to existing theory for predicting the impact of Court decisions on public confidence in the Court and by introducing innovative methods to test our hypotheses. We begin our analysis by examining the relationship between specific Court decisions and public co…
Encouraging Pollution‐Free Energy
Objective. As the price of energy swells, renewable energy sources will serve as important alternatives to fossil fuels. Identifying what influences a state to adopt a policy that promotes the construction of renewable energy sources is an important step toward understanding the nature of our future energy supplies. Methods. Using an event‐history analysis, we examine three competing diffusion explanations on the likelihood of a state adopting ne…
Geographic Proximity in the Diffusion of Concealed Weapons Permit Laws
Previous research has failed to adequately address why we should expect the diffusion of policy innovations in the realm of gun policy. As a social regulatory policy, gun policy may be highly influenced by policy adoptions in neighboring regions, in part due to the high likelihood of spillover effects. This article discusses under what conditions we should expect policy diffusion to occur from neighboring jurisdictions. We use event‐history analy…
Forthcoming Articles
Knowledge, risk, and policy support
Citizens, Nonprofits and Climate Change Policy
The issue of climate change and its potential effects on natural and human systems is becoming more prevalent on citizen and policymaker agendas. Studies of the factors framing citizen levels of concern about climate change and potential policy reactions to it are mainly framed around traditional causal explanations like socioeconomic status, political ideology, personal vulnerability, and knowledge. The present study, building on Stern et al.’s …
The effect of perceived and assessed knowledge of climate change on public policy concerns
Explaining Popular Trust in the Department of Homeland Security
Research reveals that levels of reported trust in government are at a relatively low level—among the lowest in the period studied. At the same time, reported approval for specific administrative agencies varies widely, with some agencies receiving little support and others a great deal. This raises an important question: what factors drive trust in specific agencies? This article investigates the question in relation to the Department of Homeland…
Climate scientists and environmental interest groups
Whether through the accumulation of research suggesting that climate change is underway, or through critics' attacks on the objectivity of scientists, scientists play a key role in shaping public perceptions of climate change. As such, the actions of climate scientists have great potential to influence the policy process. We seek to understand one such action by scientists affiliating with environmental interest groups. We analyze the determinant…
Public Support for Climate Change Policy
This study examines the factors that explain public preferences for a set of climate change policy alternatives. While scholarly work indicates a relationship between attitudes and values on views toward specific issues, the literature often examines general support for issues rather than specific policy proposals. Consequently, it is unclear the extent to which these attitudes and values affect specific policy considerations. This project examin…
How to win friends and influence people
The use of scientific information in the policy-making process is prevalent in today’s society, and political figures frequently consult scientists and experts when considering complex issues like climate change. While policy process literature concerning agenda setting and policy networks, such as epistemic communities and advocacy coalitions, considers the role of scientists in policymaking, very little work has provided insight into the relati…
The Influence of Specific Risk Perceptions on Public Policy Support
A great deal of research has been dedicated to understanding the relationship of public preferences to public policy. Much of this literature, though, does not account for risk perception, an important characteristic that affects individuals' preferences. In terms of policy, those who perceive high risk in association with a particular issue should be more likely to oppose policies that would increase that risk, and, conversely, support policies …
Is “fracking” a new dirty word? The influence of word choice on public views toward natural gas attitudes
A response to “Word choice matters
Do stakeholders analyze their audience? The communication switch and stakeholder personal versus public communication choices
Do We Understand What the Public Hears? Stakeholders' Preferred Communication Choices for Discussing River Issues with the Public
Communication between stakeholders and the larger public is an increasingly important issue in today's policy world. This communication often takes the form of policy narratives; however, few studies have empirically examined what type of communication style stakeholders prefer for communication with the public. This study uses a survey of 87 river stakeholders to determine the preferred communication choices of stakeholders. The study finds that…
Understanding Trust in Government
Bureaucratic expertise, overconfidence, and policy choice
Classic theory on bureaucracy suggests that one primary source of bureaucratic power in public administration and the policy‐making process derives from bureaucratic issue‐specific expertise. Studies in psychology and behavioral economics suggest that experienced experts tend to be overconfident in estimating their expertise, but few researchers have examined whether experienced bureaucrats are prone to overconfidence and, if so, how overconfiden…
Content matters
Stakeholders include scientists, interest groups, leaders, professionals, government and NGO employees, and activists; they are individuals or groups that play an increasingly important role in public policy. As such, stakeholders are frequently used as a source to better inform public decision making. Given the growing importance of stakeholders’ understanding and thus communication concerning the issues on which they inform the public, it is ti…
Strategy, Narratives, and Reading the Public
Recent research on policy narratives shows that stakeholders strategically switch away from their preferred policy narrative to a different policy narrative in an effort to better appeal to the public. While this level of strategic decision making may not be surprising, frameworks such as the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) do not currently outline a theoretical explanation to predict when and why this behavior may occur at the micro, or individ…
Political science (17 works) · Politics (13 works) · Law (11 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Climate Change Communication and Perception (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Public relations (9 works) · Public policy (8 works) · Business (6 works)