VOTERS INTERMEDIATION ENVIRONMENTS IN THE 1988 PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST

Considerable information about a presidential election campaign comes to voters through such intermediaries as personal networks and the mass media. This article examines the operation of these intermediaries in the 1988 Ohio presidential campaign by focusing on exposure to them and the perceived partisan content of their messages-and how these key features of intermediation relate to various voter characteristics. People are most disposed to discuss politics with like-minded relatives and friends, but discussions with co-workers provide an opportunity for politically dissonant messages to intrude. This political discussion is modulated by political attentiveness rather than personal or partisan characteristics. Media exposure is high and also is related most to political attentiveness, although age is an important determinant as well. Surprisingly, the media were commonly perceived as balanced and neutral in the presidential race or, where committed, as supporting the candidate the respondent opposed. Because of this, only a third of the respondents found themselves in an overall intermediation environment that was concordant with their own preferences. Considerably more were in environments containing some discordant views, which could challenge their partisan dispositions. © 1991 by the American Association for Public Opinion Research.