What Do You Mean I Can Only Vote for One Party? Elite Views, Media Coverage, and Public Discourse Surrounding Washington State Primary Reform.

In this paper, I explore elite views, media coverage and public discourse surrounding Washington State primary reform in 2004. I hypothesize that the views favored by political leaders of the state will receive more news coverage, and receive more support from citizens than views not expressed by political leaders of the state. I then assess the extent to which the findings support the idea of elite framing of the issue, and the extent to which the findings support the idea that the more prominent frames are those that resonate more with the people of Washington. This paper is important because it examines public discourse surrounding an issue on which citizens have little prior knowledge, and therefore will likely be ignorant of views not presented in the mass media, giving the media a powerful role in presenting the available frames, and elites a distinctive ability to shape public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]