Public Opinion, Public Policy, and Smoking: The Transformation of American Attitudes and Cigarette Use, 18902016

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Public Opinion, Public Policy, and Smoking tracks Americans changing attitudes about cigarette smoking over the last century. With data from more than five thousand public and privately conducted polls, this book carefully examines how Americans came to understand the health risks of smoking; how the tobacco industry sought to reframe smoking; and how public opinion support for tobacco control affected lawsuits, elections, and public policies. This book tests several well-known linkage models that connect public opinion with public policy. It shows that conventional wisdom about public opinion and tobacco control policy is often mistaken. This book offers the first in-depth look at American public opinion and cigarette smoking during the last century.

Reviews

The book...offer[s] a nice history of the changes in Americans awareness of the health risks of cigarette smoking and some of the major events that have occurred over the past century and a half. It also includes an extensive and detailed bibliography. * Public Opinion Quarterly *
Marshalls book is especially innovative in focusing on what the public knew or believed and how public opinion shifted over time. Other recent historical accounts of this period have focused largely on scientific knowledge and on what scientists, health officials, and the tobacco industry knew or believed. . . Marshalls account is optimistic. * Bulletin of the History of Medicine *
A highly readable, informed, and superbly analyzed study of changing mass attitudes towards smoking and the impact these have had onpolicy formation and implementation. Acritical health, economic, and social issue addressed by one of the country's top healthcare and public opinion experts. Itsets the standard for the field. An outstanding contribution. -- William Crotty, Northeastern University
Thomas Marshalls Public Opinion, Public Policy, and Smoking examines changing public attitudes toward smoking, as well as the role of public opinion in the formulation of tobacco control policy. By analyzing over fifty years of public opinion poll data in relationship to policy formation, Marshall demonstrates that public opinion has played a critical role in the development of tobacco control policy. This highly readable book should be of great interest to all who care about tobacco policy, as well as anyone who wants to understand public health policymaking. -- Wendy E. Parmet, Northeastern University
Thomas Marshall literally draws on thousands of public and private opinion polls conducted since the 1930s to carefully explain what Americans believed about the harm of cigarette smoking and what the government should do about it. His recurring finding is that mass public opinion does matter in smoking-related policy-making. Because Public Opinion, Public Policy, and Smoking is so well argued, thorough, and evenhanded, I expect it be the go-to book about public opinion and tobacco control policy. -- Charles D. Hadley, University of New Orleans

Author Bio

Thomas R. Marshall is professor of political science at the University of Texas at Arlington where he teaches classes in public opinion, campaigns and elections, and American government.