Preference Revelation and Public Policy

Making Sense of Citizen Survey Data

Bibliographic Data

ID10399308
AuthorsL A Wilson, Lachlan Wilson (corresponding author)
Year1983
Volume43
Issue4
Pages335-335
Publication date1983-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/975836
OpenAlexW2333802876
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited1

Surveys of citizen opinion have become commonplace features of contemporary American life. Along with their use by market researchers and political polling organizations, local governments have been making increasing use of citizen surveys as one method of gathering information about institutional performance. The value of these data to decision makers is found in the unique distributional character of those responding to a general population survey. Unlike public hearings and informal contact with constituents, general population surveys (if done correctly) provide potentially useful information regarding the preferences and assessments of a random cross-section of their constituents. In fact, cities such as Dayton, Ohio, St. Petersburg, Florida, and Dallas, Texas have gone so far as to incorporate annual or biennial surveys of constituent opinion into their routine management process.' An increasing number of articles-several of which have appeared in the Public Administration Reviewhave been published in recent years which deal with the use of citizen surveys by local government. Among these various papers are those which address the interpretation of citizen preference information2 and various methodological issues associated with the conduct of such surveys.3 Reflected in this literature is an implicit assumption that at least two different purposes may be served by such surveys of constituent opinion: they may be used as a type of performance indicator and / or to inform decisions about the distribution of monies across different policy areas. In the first instance, interest is focused upon the issue of citizen satisfaction with current services. In the second, interest is directed toward constituent opinion regarding the division of an hypothetical budget. With specific reference to questions about the size of a budget, significant questions remain about the utility of citizen survey data to decision makers. When respondents to a general population survey are asked if they would like their city government to spend more, the same, or less on the provision of a specific good or service, are the preferences expressed by respondents real preferences or are they merely artifacts of a particular research methodology? In the literature of public

Economics · Microeconomics · Political science · Preference · Revelation · Sense (electronics · Sociology · Theology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Engineering · Philosophy · Public Administration

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