Replication Data for: Wait and see? Public Opinion Dynamics after Terrorist Attacks

We use the occurrence of the London bombings in July 7 2005 during the fieldwork period of the British Social Attitudes Survey to analyse the dynamics of public support for measures curbing core freedoms. We observe no changes of public stances in the first week after the attack. Approval of infringements on privacy and procedural rights surges in the following weeks before stabilizing at an increased level in the medium run. Our findings indicate that the public adopts a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to restrictive counter-terrorist measures. These results run against the hypothesis of an over-reactive citizenry driven by fear. People do not seem to spontaneously demand liberticidal policies, but appear to follow elite cues. Ancillary analyses point to the media as the main source of persuasion.本研究以2005年7月7日伦敦爆炸案发生于英国社会态度调查（British Social Attitudes Survey）实地调研期间为研究场景，分析公众对限制核心自由的相关措施的支持动态。研究观察到，袭击发生后的第一周内公众立场未出现任何变化。民众对侵犯隐私与程序权利的措施的支持率在后续几周内大幅攀升，随后在中期维持在更高水平。本研究结果表明，公众在面对限制性反恐措施时持观望态度。上述结论与“民众会因恐惧而反应过度”的假设相悖。民众似乎不会自发支持损害自由的政策，反而会遵循精英的舆论导向。辅助分析结果显示，媒体是影响公众态度的主要来源。