Territorial Representation and the Opinion–Policy Linkage
Evidence from the European Union
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7608400 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher Wratil (0000-0002-7339-9628, Harvard University and University of Cologne, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 197-211 |
| Publication date | 2019-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12403 |
| OpenAlex | W2898803032 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 36 |
| References cited | 68 |
A key feature of federal systems is the representation of subnational units by “territorial representatives” in policymaking at the federal level. How do such arrangements influence the linkage between public opinion and policy outputs? I argue that policymaking under territorial representation should be systematically skewed toward opinion in those states where citizens care about a policy issue and have a uniform view on it. This claim is tested using a novel data set of policy change in the European Union (EU), covering 211 policy issues and 6,506 observations of opinion–policy dyads. Results show that measures weighting opinion across member states by how much national citizens care about an issue are better predictors of policy change than EU‐wide mean opinion. Moreover, congruence between state‐level opinion and EU‐level policy becomes more likely, the more salient and clear‐cut opinion in a member state is. These findings refine our understanding of the opinion–policy linkage under territorial representation
Business · Economic policy · European union · Linkage (software · Member state · Member states · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Representation (politics · Salient · State (computer science · Weighting · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Medicine · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration
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| Unique citing works | 36 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5,14 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2026 (8) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 33 |