among 37 regularly occurring groups in 27 communities sampled across Wisconsin, this study shows that in some places, people have a class-and place-based identity that is intertwined with a perception of deprivation. The rural consciousness revealed here shows people attributing rural deprivation to the decision making of (urban) political elites, who disregard and disrespect rural residents and rural lifestyles. Thus these rural residents favor limited government, even though such a stance might seem contradictory to their economic self-interests. The results encourage us to consider the role of group consciousness-based perspectives rather than pitting interests against values as explanations for preferences. Also, the study suggests that public opinion research more seriously include listening to the public.

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Are men and women portrayed differently in campaigns? Much scholarship and commentary expects that this is so, yet previous studies provide ambiguous evidence on the extent of gender difference.The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of gender differences in television advertisements in congressional races in 2000 and 2002 with data that allow them to take into account the frequency of airings, the sponsorship of the advertisements, partisanship, and competitiveness of the race. Although some gender differences emerge, the analysis reveals undeniable similarity in the presentation of male and female candidates in television advertisements.

This article calls into question the common claim that class identity does not matter for American political behaviour. Using panel-study data spanning thirty-two years and two generations, we investigate the effects of social-class identity on five participatory orientations towards government. As expected, working-class identifiers in both generations consistently display lower levels of involvement in politics than do middle-class identifiers. Significantly, however, these differences typically persist when the analysis controls for objective indicators of class and are always enhanced among those who retain the same class identity over time. Rather than sustaining a conclusion that class identification has little relevance for Americans, the results suggest that class may be particularly important in the present political context.

is the Academic Director for the Integrative Learning and MPortfolio Initiative at the University of Michigan. Her research is focused on lifelong learning and understanding the types of knowledge needed to educate leaders, entrepreneurs and effective practitioners for the twentyfi rst-century workplace. Dr Peet is currently exploring the role tacit knowledge (unconscious and informal ways of knowing) plays in the development of leaders and extraordinary practitioners within several fi elds and disciplines. She has recently developed a methodology, Generative Knowledge Interviewing, for retrieving the essential tacit knowledge that exists within people -from novices to experts. This methodology is being integrated into many learning environments and professional development endeavors within and beyond the University of Michigan. It is widely used in conjunction with the Integrative Knowledge ePortfolio Process, a learning experience that supports students in connecting, refl ecting on, and integrating both the tacit and formal knowledge they have gained from all areas of life.