ABSTRACT
Coping with the available amount of politically relevant information represents a major challenge for anybody conceiving of themselves as participants in national, much less international, political processes. This chapter focuses on empirical studies in two different cultural settings- the United States and Denmark - to propose a set of thematic conceptualizations which citizens employ to make sense of political issues. The theoretical analysis primarily seeks to accomplish two objectives. First, it presents a methodological argument for the relevance of qualitative approaches to political cognition; in-depth interviewing is the common methodology of the studies. Second, in the discussion of findings, it is suggested that the characteristics of political information-processing in the two countries have implications for the definition of politics and of political participation and efficacy. The chapter defines theme as a translating mechanism used by individuals to make sense of public issues and events to which they are exposed, either through the mass media, interpersonal.
