From Mass Preferences to Policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232884 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brandice Canes-Wrone (0000-0002-6949-7655, Princeton University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 147-165 |
| Publication date | 2015-05-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annual Review of Political Science (BOOK_SERIES) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1094-2939 • E-ISSN: 1545-1577 |
| Publisher | Annual Reviews (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1146/annurev-polisci-050311-165552 |
| OpenAlex | W2140841938 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 52 |
| References cited | 93 |
This article reviews recent research on how mass opinion affects policy making in the context of US national institutions. Three themes materialize. First, research provides compelling evidence for “responsiveness,” in which change in mass opinion is associated with subsequent policy changes, but not for a high level of “congruence” between the policies that are favored by a majority of the public and those that are enacted. Second, although scholarship suggests that both congruence and responsiveness have declined since the 1970s, they are not low by historic standards; rather, mass opinion was particularly influential in that decade. Third, the literature rebuts conventional explanations for the post-1970s decline and suggests that standard proposals for how to reverse it would not significantly alter the impact of mass preferences on policy. The article concludes by considering the possibility that fundraising developments over the past three decades have changed politicians' electoral incentives
Congruence (geometry · Context (archaeology · Economics · Incentive · Law and economics · Mass media · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public economics · Public opinion · Public policy · Scholarship · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · History · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Psychology
Does preference intensity matter? Reexamining policy representation in the American states
Income Inequality and Electoral Theories of Polarization
The policy-seeking voter
Redistricting and Policy Responsiveness to African Americans in the U.S. House
Dissecting Taste Distinction
Overreacting and Posturing
Populism and foreign aid
The exchange between citizens and elected officials
The Affordable Care Act and Polarization in the United States
Business versus citizens
Interdependence, Networks, and Public Policy Support
Public Perceptions and Housing Assistance for Reentrants
A Discussion of Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels' Democracy for Realists
Does the U.S. Congress Respond to Public Opinion on Trade
Status Quo Conservatism, Placation, or Partisan Division? Analysing Citizen Attitudes Towards Financial Reform in the United States
We’ll stop having debates
Pressure for War
Public Opinion and Foreign Aid Cuts in Economic Crises
Public support for development aid during the Covid-19 pandemic
Income inequality and opinion expression gap in the American public
Deliberative Responsiveness
Unequal policy responsiveness in the Netherlands
Voter incompetence and the legitimacy of representative democracy
Citizen's preferences for urban planning priorities
Compulsory voting, economic conditions and turnout
Why Are Subnational Governments Responsive
How Courts Structure State-Level Representation
Income Inequality and State Parties
Policy Dynamics in Federal Systems
Electoral Proximity and Issue-Specific Responsiveness
Measuring legislators’ ideological position in large chambers using pairwise-comparisons
The Influence of Cause and Sectional Group Lobbying on Government Responsiveness
Can Conservatives Be Persuaded? Framing Effects on Support for Universal Basic Income in the US
A New Measure of Congruence
Communicating With Congress
Two Sides of the Same Coin? Congruence and Responsiveness as Representative Democracy's Currencies
A Man’s World? The Policy Representation of Women and Men in a Comparative Perspective
Representation in an Era of Political and Economic Inequality
Civic Feedbacks
Conducting the Heavenly Chorus
The knowledge economy and taxes on the rich
Sanction Consequences and Citizen Support
Voters Get What They Want (When They Pay Attention)
The Laws of War and Public Support for Foreign Combatants
Unleashing the watchdogs
Tax the rich’? The financial crisis, fiscal fairness, and progressive income taxation
Grey power and the Economy
Public Opinion and Presidents’ Unilateral Policy Agendas
L’opinion des citoyens influence-t-elle les politiques
Unequal policy responsiveness in Spain
Class Position and Political Opinion in Rich Democracies
A path towards citizenship
What Americans know about politics and why it matters
The Financiers of Congressional Elections
The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion
The Myth of Presidential Representation
Setting the Agenda
The Rational Public
Why Parties?
Presidential Responsiveness and Public Policy-Making
Minority Report
White-Collar Government
Do Voters Affect or Elect Policies? Evidence from the U. S. House
Primary Election Systems and Representation
Causes and Consequences of Polarization
Chapter 5
Home Style
An economic theory of democracy
Who Leads Whom?
Public Opinion in America
On Deaf Ears
Partisan Balance
Pivotal Politics
Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Decline of Competition in U.S. House Elections
The American Political Economy
Affluence and Influence
The Impact of Public Opinion on Public Policy
Polarized Populism
Primary Elections and Partisan Polarization in the U.S. Congress
Presidential Position Taking and the Puzzle of Representation
Ideology, ?shirking?, and representation
Constituency characteristics and legislative preferences
Beyond the Median
On the Rationale of Group Decision-making
Position-Taking and Electoral Accountability in the U.S. House of Representatives
Reply to “Shirking in the Contemporary Congress
The Decline of Party in the U. S. House of Representatives, 1887-1968
Elections, Keynes, Bureaucracy and Class
Who Influences U.S. Foreign Policy
Comparing Interest Group Scores across Time and Chambers
Candidate Positioning in U.S. House Elections
Toward a Broader Understanding of Presidential Power
Partisan Bias, Political Information and Spatial Voting in the 2008 Presidential Election
The Mass Media and the Public's Assessments of Presidential Candidates, 1952–2000
Reassessing the Unequal Representation of Latinos and African Americans
Patterns of Representation
Representation in Congress
More a Molehill than a Mountain
Explaining the President's Issue Based Liberalism
Is Polarization a Myth
Lumpers and Splitters
Public Opinion and Public Policy, 1980-1993
Government policy and citizen passion
Shirking in the Contemporary Congress
Roll Calls, Party Labels, and Elections
Bayesian Multilevel Estimation with Poststratification
Primary Elections and Candidate Ideology
Issue Salience and Support for Civil Rights Legislation among Southern Democrats
Media and Political Polarization
Severing the Electoral Connection
An Informational Rationale for Political Parties
Leadership and Pandering
The Conditional Nature of Presidential Responsiveness to Public Opinion
Measuring Representation
Public Opinion, Elections, and Representation within a Market Economy
A Primary Cause of Partisanship? Nomination Systems and Legislator Ideology
Does Gerrymandering Cause Polarization
The Senate Electoral Cycle and Bicameral Appropriations Politics
Ideology and Interests in the Political Marketplace
Dynamics of Representation
Income, Preferences, and the Dynamics of Policy Responsiveness
The Two Presidencies
Constituency Influence in Congress
Democratic Frustration in the Anglo-American Polities
Leapfrog Representation and Extremism
Institutional Change in the House of Representatives, 1867-1998
Congressional Voting over Legislative Careers
Candidates and Policy in United States Senate Elections
Dynamic Public Opinion
Constituency Opinion and Congressional Policy Making
Shortcuts Versus Encyclopedias
Spatial Voting in the 2004 Presidential Election
Issues, Candidate Image, and Priming
Dynamic Representation
Out of Step, Out of Office
Effects of Public Opinion on Policy
Public Opinion and the Common Defense
Have American's Social Attitudes Become More Polarized
| Unique citing works | 52 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,73 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2026 (12) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 51 |