Morality as the Enduring Basis of Public Opinion

Abstract

Abstract This chapter shows the immense progress made in the last decade in the study of morality in public opinion and discusses some of the complexities of the morality–politics nexus. It starts by reviewing the plethora of theoretical definitions for morality in politics, and then probes how morality might serve as the basis of public opinion by examining how it translates into political attitudes. Next, the chapter reviews the main findings in this burgeoning literature. It describes the links between moral attitudes and ideology and, in particular, possible ideological asymmetry in moral thinking, and moves to review the role of morality as a source of elite rhetoric, a vehicle for political activism, a driver of extremism and polarization, and a key dimension in voter evaluations of politicians. This is followed by a discussion of measurement, and finally concludes with thoughts about the future of the field.