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Lights! Camera! Policy! Regulating the Morality of American Entertainment
Abstract
For most of the twentieth century the public, the media, and politicians have shown concern for the morality of the motion picture and television industries, and on a few occasions the federal government has attempted to regulate the content of movies and television programs. These attempts bring into conflict the desire to uphold a safe and well-ordered society with the freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. This work is an attempt to answer questions about when policies that censor the motion picture or television industries change and what political factors explain the regulatory framework that emerges from these periods of change. Though the issue of television and movie morality has always attracted political attention, very little academic work has been produced to aid in an understanding of the processes surrounding morality policy change toward these major industries. To fill this gap in the literature, promising recent theories of policy change and morality politics are synthesized and rigorously tested. A longitudinal analysis of image and venue activity is undertaken in order to point out periods of policy change. Two cases of morality policy are identified and examined both contextually and using a multivariate time-series model. Results suggest that successful attempts to regulate the content of movies and television programs are dependent upon public opinion, the power of interest groups, and the power of bureaucratic agencies all calling for some form of censorship. Furthermore, findings suggest that the partisan and ideological differences in Congress are not a significant factor in policy change. Conservatives and liberals must agree that the industry in question presents a danger to American society.
Subject Area
Political science|American studies|Film studies|Mass communications
Recommended Citation
Wambeam, Rodney Allen, "Lights! Camera! Policy! Regulating the Morality of American Entertainment" (1999). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9952695.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9952695