AGENDA SETTING AND COMMUNITY CONSENSUS: FIRST AND SECOND LEVEL EFFECTS

• Published in: International journal of public opinion research Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 335 - 348
• Main Authors: López-Escobar, Esteban, Llamas, Juan Pablo, McCombs, Maxwell
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 1998; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Agenda; Attitudes; Candidates; Community; Consensus; Democratic countries; Mass Media; Mass Media Effects; Media; Political Attitudes; Political Ideologies; Political information; Politicians; Public Opinion; Spain; Television; United States of America
• ISSN: 0954-2892; 1471-6909
• DOI: 10.1093/ijpor/10.4.335

This study explores two sets of hypotheses: An increment in media use for political information corresponds to (1) an increment in community consensus about social priorities (first level agenda setting); and (2) an increment in community consensus about politicians’ attributes (second level agenda setting). The analysis of first level effects, which largely replicates research conducted in the United States, shows that a trend toward consensus in an agenda of issues is also present among the Spanish public. Analysis of the agendas of substantive and affective characteristics of political candidates shows that the pattern of increasing social consensus is also present at the second level of agenda setting. Increasing consensus in the affective agenda of candidates’ characteristics among different population subgroups suggests that the news media, especially television, contribute to more homogeneous evaluations of rival political candidates, leveling out ideological changes within democratic societies.