'Talking Intervention' - attitudes towards German Foreign Policy and the conditional influence of emphasis frames

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• German Summary
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Theory and Preliminary Analysis
  • 2.1 The Rationale of Talking Intervention
    • 2.1.1 The Discourse on Intervention as Frame Contest
    • 2.1.2 Framing and the Banality of the Body-Bag Hypothesis
    • 2.1.3 Rethinking the Role of the Media
    • 2.1.4 The Need for a Psychology of Discourse
  • 2.2 Towards an Interactionist Perspective of Framing
    • 2.2.1 Framing Still a Messy Paradigm
    • 2.2.2 Framing as Manipulation
    • 2.2.3 Framing as Interaction
    • 2.2.4 The Notion of Frame Congruence
    • 2.2.5 The Salience of Political Sophistication
    • 2.2.6 Testing Foreign Policy Frames - So Far
    • 2.2.7 Summary
  • 2.3 The German Experience of Talking Intervention
    • 2.3.1 The Changing Conception of German Foreign Policy
    • 2.3.2 A Case in a Point: The Debate on the Lebanon Mission
    • 2.3.3 Risk versus Responsibility Framing
    • 2.3.4 Testing the Frame-Attitude Connection: Hypotheses
    • 2.3.5 Summary
• 3 Data and Methods
  • 3.1 Survey Design and Variables
    • 3.1.1 Structure and Procedure of the Survey Experiment
    • 3.1.2 First Part: Measuring of Independent Variables
    • 3.1.3 Second Part: Newspaper Article
    • 3.1.4 Third Part: Measuring of Dependent Variables
    • 3.1.5 Summary
  • 3.2 Data Screening and Sample Characteristics
    • 3.2.1 Cleaning up the Act
    • 3.2.2 Sample Characteristics
    • 3.2.3 Summary
  • 3.3 Statistical Analysis
    • 3.3.1 Estimation Strategies
    • 3.3.2 Analysis of Interactions
    • 3.3.3 Summary
• 4 Findings
  • 4.1 Findings for Support
    • 4.1.1 Descriptive Statistics
    • 4.1.2 Inferential Statistics
    • 4.1.3 Summary
  • 4.2 Findings for Overall Opinion
    • 4.2.1 Descriptive Statistics
    • 4.2.2 Inferential Statistics
    • 4.2.3 Summary
  • 4.3 Discussion
    • 4.3.1 Control Variables - in Brief
    • 4.3.2 Risk Outperforming Responsibility
    • 4.3.3 Surprises for Frame Congruence and Political Sophistication
    • 4.3.4 The Competent Citizen?
    • 4.3.5 Practical Relevance of the Findings
    • 4.3.6 A Very Last Word on Theory
• 5 Conclusion
• Appendix A: Computer Content Analysis
• Appendix B: Student Survey and Article Versions
• Appendix C: Principal Component Analysis
• Appendix D: Latent Class Analysis
• Appendix E: Data Screen and Sample
• Appendix F: Linear Regression Analysis
• Appendix G: Multinomial Logit Analysis
• References

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This diploma thesis examines the influence of political framing on citizens’ attitudes towards military interventions, specifically focusing on the German Bundeswehr’s involvement in overseas deployments. It argues that such influence exists, but is dependent on individual characteristics of citizens. The main objective of this work is to determine the extent to which political arguments influence public opinion on military interventions and to understand the interplay between framing and individual characteristics. The key themes explored in the thesis are:

• The impact of political framing on public attitudes towards military interventions.
• The influence of individual characteristics, such as political sophistication and pre-dispositions, on the effectiveness of framing.
• The interplay between communication content and individual characteristics in shaping political beliefs and judgments.
• The role of media and discourse in framing public opinion on foreign policy issues.
• The concept of "body-bag effect" and its relevance to German public opinion on military interventions.

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The thesis begins by introducing the concept of “talking intervention” and its significance in the context of German foreign policy. Chapter 2 delves into the theoretical framework of framing, examining its different perspectives and highlighting the importance of an interactionist approach. It analyzes the German experience of “talking intervention” through the lens of the Lebanon mission debate. The chapter also presents hypotheses regarding the relationship between framing and individual characteristics in shaping attitudes towards interventions. Chapter 3 details the methodology employed in the thesis. It describes the design and structure of the survey experiment, the variables measured, and the data analysis techniques used. Chapter 4 presents the key findings, focusing on the effects of different frames on support for a possible expansion of the Lebanon mission. It also examines the role of individual characteristics, such as political sophistication and pre-dispositions, in moderating these effects.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This study primarily focuses on the influence of framing, political communication, and individual characteristics on public opinion towards military interventions. Key terms include: framing, discourse analysis, interactionist perspective, frame congruence, political sophistication, body-bag effect, foreign policy attitudes, survey experiment, German Bundeswehr, Lebanon mission.