How People Make Meaning in a Fragmented Democracy
Implications for Incorporating Public Opinion into Public Policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22124656 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Neil A Lewis (0000-0001-7912-1689, Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 146-153 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2372-7322 • E-ISSN: 2372-7330 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/23727322251405276 |
| OpenAlex | W7110041469 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 51 |
Scientists and policymakers often rely on polls to measure the opinions of the American public. They collect brief responses from large samples of Americans and use quantitative methods to aggregate those responses in ways that allow them to construct measures of what the “average American” thinks. Policymakers then (sometimes) use those averages to inform public policy. In this article, I raise questions about the utility of that approach for policymaking, given what social and behavioral scientists have learned about the fragmentation of (American) democracy and its implications for heterogeneity in people's experiences. I review research on social fragmentation, its implications for how people who are differentially positioned in society perceive and make meaning of the world around them, and the implications for the policies they support. After reviewing those processes, I end by offering alternative approaches for incorporating public opinion into the policymaking process
Democracy · Motivated reasoning · Opinion poll · Public opinion · Public policy · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Media and Politics
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| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |