First Advisor

Chistopher Shortell

Date of Award

Summer 8-15-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Political Science and University Honors

Department

Political Science

Language

English

Subjects

Supreme Court, Polarization, Legitimacy, News Media, Social Media, Public Sentiment

DOI

10.15760/honors.1595

Abstract

This thesis observed how information sources may have a polarizing effect on perceptions of Supreme Court legitimacy. The focus of the study was to measure whether social media had a stronger effect on peoples' perception of Supreme Court legitimacy when compared to other forms information sources. This study may significantly determine how support for the Supreme Court can fluctuate depending on both the platform of information distribution and the content of the information. This study used an anonymous survey to canvas sentiment about the Supreme Court in the Portland Metro Area. The initial findings suggest that those who use social media as their primary source of information regarding the Supreme Court have significantly lower opinion of the Court's legitimacy than those who use other information sources. This demonstrates that there may be a higher rate of polarization of opinions about the Supreme Court when individuals use social media. This implies that the information on and use of social media is contributing to the Supreme Court's loss of legitimacy in recent polling.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42466

Download

Share

COinS