Faculty Publications

The E-Government Surveillance In The United States: Public Opinion On Government Wiretapping Powers

Document Type

Book Chapter

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Ethical Issues and Citizen Rights in the Era of Digital Government Surveillance

First Page

208

Last Page

230

Abstract

Since the 2001 U.S. Patriot Act passed in response to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., government wiretapping powers have evolved in scope and practice. Although overall public opinion favors government protection from terrorism, public support for government surveillance has ebbed and flowed. Recently, public opinion polls suggest that there has been a shift from supporting government wiretapping activities toward protecting individual civil liberty. A number of competing explanations have developed from sources ranging from the literature on Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) to evolving beliefs about personal information privacy. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze factors predicting changing public support for government surveillance. Multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the 2012 American National Election Time Series Study are used to test rival explanations.

Department

Department of Political Science

Original Publication Date

2-2-2016

DOI of published version

10.4018/978-1-4666-9905-2.ch011

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

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