Publics

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Publics are small groups of people who follow one or more particular issue very closely. They are well informed about the issue(s) and also have a very strong opinion on it/them. They tend to know more about politics than the average person, and, therefore, exert more influence, because these people care so deeply about their cause(s) that they donate a lot of time and money. Therefore, politicians are unlikely be reelected by not pleasing the publics while in office. [1]

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Issue publics

Issue publics are groups of people who pay attention to one particular issue. One can be part of more than one issue public. [1] So called "passionate publics" can also shape markets and the perceptions of different products, as seen in the discursive shaping of market categories by reviewers of whiskey products. [2]

The term was introduced by Philip Converse in The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics (1964). He defined it in contrast to mass public. [3]

Attentive publics

Attentive publics are groups of people who pay attention to several particular issues. [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Peverill Squire; James M. Lindsay; Cary R. Covington (2008) [1st pub. 1995: Brown & Benchmark], Dynamics of Democracy (5th Alternative ed.), Mason, Ohio: Thomson Custom Solutions, ISBN   9780759395343, OCLC   1285579891 [ page needed ][ verification needed ]
  2. ↑ Hartman, Anna E.; Fisser, Carys; Venkatraman, Rohan; Coslor, Erica (2025-06-01). "The category work of custodians: Passionate publics and online reviews". Public Relations Review. 51 (2): 102546. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102546 . ISSN   0363-8111.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  3. ↑ Han, Hahrie (2009). "What are Issue Publics?". Moved to Action: Motivation, Participation, and Inequality in American Politics (illustrated ed.). Stanford University Press. p. 50. ISBN   0804762244. OCLC   316327162.


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