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Political Responses to Pain and Loss Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1998

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

M. Kent Jennings*
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara

Abstract

Although manifestations of pain and loss phenomena are treated in various parts of the discipline, the focus is seldom on pain and loss as a distinctive form of political experience or as one that offers a broad canvas on which the workings of the political process can be depicted. By contrast, this article makes four arguments: (1) pain and loss experiences cut to the core of everyday lives and frequently infuse them with politics; (2) responses to pain and loss events occupy a prominent place in the domains of public opinion and issue activism; (3) these events and responses have some unique properties; and (4) major research questions can be organized around the study of pain and loss phenomena.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1999

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