Expectations for Policy Change and Participation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6367646 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Curtis Bram (0000-0002-9604-5793, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas , Richardson, TX, US) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1000-1012 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Opinion Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-362X • E-ISSN: 1537-5331 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/poq/nfad047 |
| OpenAlex | W4389672351 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 32 |
What policy changes do people expect from elections, and how do these expectations influence the decision to vote? This paper seeks to understand the relationship between people’s expectations and their subsequent voting behavior by examining beliefs about what candidates would actually do if given political power. I start with a survey of political scientists and compare their forecasts about what presidential candidates will accomplish to those of the general population. Public respondents expected much more legislation to result from the 2020 election. This comparison suggests an underestimation by the public of the impediments that the separation of powers poses to passing legislation. The study further reveals that voters expected much more policy change than nonvoters did, with high expectations serving as a strong predictor of validated voter turnout. These results support explanations for the decision to vote that center on the policy benefits that people believe their preferred candidate will deliver
Economics · Legislation · Political science · Politics · Population · Power (physics · Presidential election · Presidential system · Public economics · Public opinion · Public relations · Sociology · Turnout · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Gender Politics and Representation · Psychology · Law · Public Administration · Social Psychology
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| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |