The Partisanship of Problem Definition: Political Discussions about Guns

• In Event: Parties and the Media: New Research and Directions for Study

Abstract

Despite high levels of gun violence and mass shootings relative to peer democracies, the United States is relatively inactive with respect to gun control legislation. One potential reason is that the United States' two major political parties define the problem differently, with different problem definitions lending themselves to different policy solutions. In turn, repeated iterations of similar "focusing events" – in this case, mass shootings -- sharpens the divisions between how opposing partisans define the problem of gun violence and accompanying policy proposals. We trace these dynamics using the transcripts of political television shows on six major networks, with speakers labeled for partisanship, spanning 2000 to 2017. Through this, we identify both the extent to which language concerning gun violence – particularly surrounding mass shootings – has polarized over time, as well as the substantive bases of such polarization.

Authors

• Jon Green, Northeastern University

• Kelsey Shoub, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Jared Falkenberg Edgerton, Ohio State University

• Mallory Layne Treece Wagner, The Ohio State University

• Daniel Naftel, Ohio State University

• Skyler J. Cranmer, The Ohio State University