The Court of Public Opinion: How Competing Rhetoric about Trump’s Prosecution Affects Political Attitudes

How do criminal prosecutions of former presidents reshape public opinion? Such prosecutions have uncertain effects because citizens receive conflicting information from legal officials and accused political leaders about the legitimacy of the prosecutions. We analyze how competing framings of the federal prosecution of Donald Trump affect three outcomes—public support for the prosecution and prosecutor, for Trump, and for democratic norms—using a pre-registered survey experiment with 3,000 selfidentified Republicans and independents. We find legal messaging from the prosecutor increases overall support for the prosecution yet sharply reduces favorability toward the prosecutor among Trump supporters. Legal messaging also reduces intention of voting for Trump among respondents who do not view Trump favorably and increases support for respecting certain democratic norms among respondents who lean Republican. The results show attachment to Trump is the key factor mediating citizens’ receptivity to messaging about legal accountability. Finally, we find Trump’s rhetoric has minimal effects and does not increase support for retaliatory violations of democratic norms

Pre-Analysis Plan for "How Does Messaging about Trump’s Prosecution Affect Public Support for Democratic Norms?"

Prosecutions of political leaders may have double-edged effects in democracies. On the one hand, they may hold anti-democratic politicians accountable and turn public opinion against them. On the other, if prosecutions are perceived as illegitimate, they may provoke backlash and public support for retaliatory violations of democratic norms. Crucially, citizens receive conflicting information about how to interpret such prosecutions: Whereas accused political leaders denounce prosecutions as antidemocratic election interference, non-partisan legal officials defend legal investigations as democratic accountability. To understand how elite messaging affects public opinion regarding Donald Trump’s prosecution, we will conduct a survey experiment scheduled to run after October 24 with 3,000 Republicans, Republican-leaners, and independents through the survey website Cint. Respondents will be randomly assigned to either a pure control, a video of Trump denouncing the prosecution, or a video from a nonpartisan legal official defending the prosecution. We hypothesize that elite rhetoric will have important effects on perceptions of whether the prosecution is legitimate and downstream effects on affective polarization, support for Trump, and support for retaliatory violations of democratic norms

Explaining sex differences in infants’ preferences for groups

Social organization of a species influences myriad facets of individuals’ behavior. Much research indicates that human social organization consists of males in large groups and females in smaller groups or interacting with individuals. This study analyzed the initial factors that produce greater preferences for groups by human male versus female infants. To this end, using a looking preference paradigm, fifty-nine 6–8-month-old infants viewed individual versus group images of actual children. On the basis of several controls, results demonstrated that male more than female infants are attracted to the complex level of stimulation provided by groups. Discussion centers on further identifying male versus female patterns of group interaction from a perceptual and cognitive standpoint

TOP2B: The first thirty years

Type II DNA topoisomerases (EC 5.99.1.3) are enzymes that catalyse topological changes in DNA in an ATP dependent manner. Strand passage reactions involve passing one double stranded DNA duplex (transported helix) through a transient enzyme-bridged break in another (gated helix). This activity is required for a range of cellular processes including transcription. Vertebrates have two isoforms: topoisomerase IIα and β. Topoisomerase IIβ was first reported in 1987. Here we review the research on DNA topoisomerase IIβ over the 30 years since its discovery