Existing research on framing has a lot to offer in terms of increasing support for human rights issues. A framing perspective provides important cautionary notes about how we should use polls as part of a communication effort. How people think, in addition to what they think is critical to effective communication, but polls are not great ways to understand the how question. Polls are also not always effective in deriving recommendations for how to communicate effectively about social issues. In fact, using descriptive polling to make communications decisions can actually lead to unproductive outcomes.
Why framing matters and why now?
Human rights issues are currently at a critical juncture. Freedom House has warned for the last nine years that respect for democratic principles, including the political and civil liberties that form the foundation of human rights, has declined. In fact, in their 2015 report the watchdog organization asserted that democracy is now under greater threat than at any other point in the last 25 years. There are a number of factors driving these trends, pushing human rights issues onto the back burner and putting at risk the ground already gained.
The factors threatening democracy and human rights promotion are creating an urgent need for action—but they also hint at opportunity. When issues are actively negotiated in public and expert discourses, the way that people come to understand the issues is up for grabs. On human rights matters, the result of these contests over meaning might very well be the difference between seeing progress on these issues and seeing them backslide further. Bringing a framing perspective—the idea that meaning is shaped by how issues are presented—seems critical at this juncture.
