Dynamic Representation

1995 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 543-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Stimson ◽  
Michael B. Mackuen ◽  
Robert S. Erikson
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Policy Preference ◽  
Joint Function ◽  
Policy Responsiveness ◽  
Constitutional Design ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Dynamic Representation ◽  
Multiple Indicators ◽  
Public Views

If public opinion changes and then public policy responds, this is dynamic representation. Public opinion is the global policy preference of the American electorate. Policy is a diverse set of acts of elected and unelected officials. Two mechanisms of policy responsiveness are (1) elections change the government's political composition, which is then reflected in new policy and (2) policymakers calculate future (mainly electoral) implications of current public views and act accordingly (rational anticipation). We develop multiple indicators of policy activity for the House, Senate, presidency, and Supreme Court, then model policy liberalism as a joint function of the two mechanisms. For each institution separately, and also in a global analysis of “government as a whole,” we find that policy responds dynamically to public opinion change. This responsiveness varies by institution, both in level and in mechanism, as would be expected from constitutional design.

Limits of engagement? The sunshine policy, nuclear tests, and South Korean views of North Korea 1995–2013

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonbum Bae
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Relative Impact ◽  
The South ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Nuclear Tests ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Public Views

Abstract Can positive domestic messages generated by a foreign policy of engagement toward another country change public views regarding that state? How resistant are such changes to events that contradict the positive messages? I argue that while positive government messages about an adversary can significantly improve public opinion, highly consequential foreign policy events that contradict the messages influence public opinion at the cost of elites’ ability to shape it through their messages. Such differing effects can lead to a polarization of opinion when the content of the messages and the nature of events diverge from each other. Leveraging the unpredictability of North Korea’s foreign policy behavior, the South Korean government’s sustained policy of engagement toward it during the years 1998–2007, and North Korea’s first two nuclear tests to examine the relative impact of consequential foreign policy events and elite messages on public opinion, I find strong evidence consistent with this argument.

Blame Their Mothers: Public Opinion About Maternal Employment as a Cause of Juvenile Delinquency

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin T. Pickett
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Juvenile Delinquency ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Working Mothers ◽  
Youth Crime ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Registered Voters ◽  
Public Views

Juvenile justice reformers and practitioners have long blamed mothers for juvenile delinquency, identifying maternal employment as a key cause of youthful offending. The current study uses data from registered voters ( N = 10,144) to examine public views about whether maternal employment in two-parent households promotes juvenile delinquency. The results show that only a small minority of citizens blame working mothers for youth crime. The findings also reveal that views about the criminogenic consequences of maternal employment for children are predicted by factors that are strongly associated with gendered self-interest and exposure to nonegalitarian narratives. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Evaluating Policy Representation with Dynamic MRP Estimates: Direct Democracy and Same-Sex Relationship Policies in the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Lewis ◽  
Matthew L. Jacobsmeier
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Policy Responsiveness ◽  
Policy Representation

Does direct democracy strengthen popular control of public policy in the United States? A major challenge in evaluating policy representation is the measurement of state-level public opinion and public policy. Although recent studies of policy responsiveness and congruence have provided improved measures of public opinion using multilevel regression and poststratification (MRP) techniques, these analyses are limited by their static nature and cross-sectional design. Issue attitudes, unlike more general political orientations, often vary considerably over time. Unless the dynamics of issue-specific public opinion are appropriately incorporated into the analyses, tests of policy responsiveness and congruence may be misleading. Thus, we assess the degree of policy representation in direct democracy states regarding same-sex relationship recognition policies using dynamic models of policy adoption and congruence that employ dynamic MRP estimates of attitudes toward same-sex marriage. We find that direct democracy institutions increase both policy responsiveness and congruence with issue-specific public opinion.

The View from the Executive (1792)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biancamaria Fontana
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Constitutional Design ◽  
Political Position ◽  
Proper Functioning ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Constitutional Monarchy ◽  
The Revolution

This chapter examines how the most important effect that the Narbonne episode had on Staël's political position was to increase her skepticism about the power of political institutions. Executive power under the new constitutional monarchy had proved as incapable of providing guidance and leadership as the parliamentary factions had been at the time of the Constituent Assembly. Specifically, it was unable to keep the country out of a disastrous war. To some extent this failure could be ascribed to a poor constitutional design, which obstructed the proper functioning of the executive and limited its powers. The chapter also shows how, since the beginning of the Revolution, political institutions had been systematically undermined and wrecked by the relentless pressure of public opinion.

Responsive Government? Public Opinion and Government Policy Preferences in Britain and Denmark

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Binzer Hobolt ◽  
Robert Klemmemsen
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Policy Responsiveness ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Government Responsiveness ◽  
The Relationship

The ability of a political system to respond to the preferences of its citizens is central to democratic theory and practice; yet most empirical research on government responsiveness has concentrated on the United States. As a result, we know very little about the nature of government policy responsiveness in Europe and we have a poor understanding of the conditions that affect cross-national variations. This comparative study examines the relationship between public opinion and policy preferences in the United Kingdom and Denmark during the past three decades. We address two key questions: First, are the government's policy intentions driven by public opinion or vice versa? Second, do political institutions influence the level of government responsiveness? We suggest that public opinion tends to drive the government's policy intentions due to the threat of electoral sanction, and that this is more pronounced in proportional systems than in majoritarian democracies.

scholarly journals Policy Responsiveness to Public Opinion

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Erikson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Policy Responsiveness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Representation ◽  
Advanced Democracies

Policy responsiveness is a goal of democratic government—that government action responds to the preferences of its citizens. It is conceptually distinct from “representation,” whereby government actions mirror the preferences of public opinion. Governments can be representative without a direct responsiveness causal mechanism. Policy can respond to public opinion but remain biased due to other influences besides the public. Responsiveness is no certain result in a democracy, as there are many links in the causal chain that must be unbroken for it to be at work. Citizens can vote politicians in or out of office based on the adequacy of their policy representation. But are they up for the task? Do elected officials believe they must follow public opinion, and do they know what their constituents want? Ultimately, how strongly does government policy reflect citizen views? This essay addresses these questions. The literature reviewed here covers only policy representation in the United States. For related coverage, including outside the US sphere, see essays by Will Jennings (Mechanisms of Representation) and Christopher Wlezien (Advanced Democracies: Public Opinion and Public Policy in Advanced Democracies) as part of this Oxford Bibliographies in Political Science series. One conclusion is that public opinion is an influential force in determining public policy in the United States, especially when it comes to setting the ideological tone of policy in the states or the nation. The degree of influence may seem surprising given what we know about voters’ capabilities. Yet there is reason for caution as well as optimism. The general public’s influence sometimes faces the headwinds of hostile economic forces. Influence is not equally distributed across all segments of the public.

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