ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the implications of the equilibrium for the effects of framing. Here it is important to note that this extensive application of framing explicitly violates the major tenets of two prominent and opposing theories of public opinion, Philip Converse's 'nonattitudes' hypothesis and rational choice models of decision-making, respectively. Cognitive limitations are addressed here by introducing a cyclical model of framing. By explicitly considering competition between frames as a distinguishing feature of modern politics, the central assumption is that framing can be described as a dynamic process through which partisan representations of certain aspects of reality are presented to the public. If the arguments are correct, then the balance of opinions about the war in Iraq and the government's handling of this issue should be correlated to the dynamics of elite and media framing in each of the countries investigated here.
