First Advisor

Charles Heying

Term of Graduation

Spring 2008

Date of Publication

5-2-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Public Administration and Policy

Department

Public Administration

Language

English

Subjects

George Lakoff, Legislative Assembly -- Voting -- Oregon, Legislative Assembly -- Ethics -- Oregon, Conduct of life

DOI

10.15760/etd.7841

Physical Description

1 online resource (x, 158 pages)

Abstract

George Lakoff's theory of worldview presented in Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think (2002) has been a topic of interest and discussion in certain political and academic circles. To date, however, it appears that no empirical test of his theory exists. In this dissertation, Lakoff's theory of worldview is explored, using the Oregon Legislature as a case study. A survey instrument to test his theory was created and administered to members of the 2005-2006 Oregon House of Representatives. Cluster analysis and chi-square analysis were used in the data analysis to examine how well Lakoff's theory explains politics. It was found that in many instances, legislators did cluster into two distinct groups, but in two instances, crime and the environment, they did not. In all of the chi-square tests, there was a very strong association between interest group ratings and the worldview scores of legislators. Overall, the results of this study support Lakoff's theory of worldview. This research provides a foundation for further study on the topic of worldview in general and Lakoff's theory in particular. A better understanding of worldview may assist those who study and participate in politics in many ways.

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).

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to pdxscholar@pdx.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37729

Download

Share

COinS