Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In order for hip-hop artist to become the civic leaders of their community there is a need to incorporate Sophistic thought into their message. Therefore, this project examines hip hop�s connection/incorporation of Sophistic thought into their lyrics. Thus, the project first, explores the Sophist and their thoughts on civic leadership. Next, I apply their ideology to the rapper Eminem and his song �Mosh� as an illustration of raps incorporation of Sophistic thought. Finally, this paper addresses the implications of incorporating Sophistic thought for rap and other leaders.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper I explore similarities and differences among distinct character types in Plato’s Sophist in an attempt to shed light on one of the dialogue’s key opening questions: what is a philosopher? While an explicit answer is postponed, supposedly to a later dialogue, there are several intimations of possible answers in the course of this dialogue. The “noble” sophist (the sixth) and the “sunny” communicant of Being seem to be models of the philosopher, while the portrayals of the Sophist, especially the last, suggest the philosopher by way of contrast; moreover, the Stranger himself represents a certain type of philosopher, as seen particularly in his methodological and ontological commitments. In the course of analyzing these character types, I will argue that Plato means none of them taken on its own to be the philosopher, which throughout is represented by the silent Socrates. By taking Socrates as the philosophic standard in the Sophist, it becomes possible to measure the deficiencies of the Stranger and fill in some of the gaps in his analysis of the Sophist and the nature of Being.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: There has been disagreement over the effects of political sophistication on susceptibility to framing effects in political communication. This paper respecifies framing effects, which differentially influence citizens with different levels of political knowledge. The hypothesis is that there is a non-linear relationship between level of political knowledge and susceptibility to issue framing. Using the 1989 NES pilot study, I show that this hypothesis is generally supported. The findings suggest that the influence of the media is more significant than we have expected.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In the 1950s, Herbert McClosky found that a functioning political ideology � one that serves as a useful guide for selection among policy options � largely belonged to the political elite. The sharpening of elite ideological differences over the course of the last several decades, however, might lead us to expect that ordinary Americans will now think of their politics in ideological terms, too. What accounts for the change? Is it just a sharpening of elite ideological differences? Or have there been changes in citizens� levels of political sophistication? Based on an analysis of National Election Study data, our paper seeks to determine the extent to which �political sophistication,� a compound of capacity and motivation, explains the functioning political ideologies that ordinary citizens now appear to employ.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Much attention in political science has been devoted to an explication of how voters make use of issues to guide political preferences. The extant literature suggests that, while sophisticated voters make greater use of issue proximity in their electoral calculus, issues remain important to even the least politically knowledgeable of citizens. The empirical investigations on which this conclusion is based have relied on analysis of cross-sectional data. In this paper we use repeated measures data to investigate how intra-individual change in measures of issue proximity is related to intra-individual change in party evaluations. Individual change in the distance respondents place themselves from a party is shown to be strongly associated with change in evaluations of the party over the same time period but this relationship is moderated by existing levels of political awareness. For less sophisticated voters, neither a directional nor a spatial model of issue proximity appears to apply.