scholarly journals Monumental Decisions: How Direct Democracy Shapes Attitudes in the Conflict over Confederate Memorials

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 620-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Johnson ◽  
Kathleen Tipler ◽  
Tyler Camarillo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
City Council ◽  
Public Acceptance ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
The Public ◽  
Appointed Officials

ABSTRACTAmericans are engaged in a heated, sometimes violent, debate over the fate of Confederate monuments. As communities decide whether to remove these monuments, elected and appointed officials typically have had the final say. What if instead of allowing elected officials to make such decisions, voters had the power? Would this affect how the public feels about the outcome, win or lose? We used a survey experiment to examine whether the mode of decision making affects public attitudes, testing the effects of a decision made by public referendum versus by a city council. We found that respondents view decisions made by referendum to be fairer and more legitimate and allow multiple perspectives to be heard. These results hold even for respondents who oppose the referendum’s outcome. Our results speak to the potential of direct democracy to enhance public acceptance of decisions, particularly when the public is divided.

How do political decision-making processes affect the acceptability of decisions? Results from a survey experiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212199825
Author(s):  
Miho Nakatani
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
City Council ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
The Public ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Economic Growth Rates ◽  
Political Decision Making

This study aims to identify the types of city council decision-making processes that influence public perceptions of procedural fairness and the acceptability of decisions. Using an online experimental scenario survey conducted in Japan, this study found that, given the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process and when the decision is reached through a compromise among council members, people tend to feel that the process is fair and accept the decision even when it is unfavourable to them. This result is important for the governance of many advanced countries with low economic growth rates but great public demands. Additionally, this study highlights the process preferences of the public, which has received little attention compared with research on policy preferences.

Misperceptions of Chinese Investments in Canada and Their Correction: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojun Li ◽  
Yingqiu Kuang ◽  
Linting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Direct Investment ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Corrective Information ◽  
Business Ties ◽  
Public Opposition

AbstractForeign direct investment (FDI) from China has recently met with increasing public opposition in many host nations. Why does the public respond less favourably to Chinese FDI than to FDI from other countries? We explore this question by conducting a series of survey experiments in Canada, where the majority of the public holds a negative opinion of Chinese investment. We find that the bias can be attributed to innumeracy about the relative size of China's FDI and misinformation about investment rules that govern FDI projects in Canada. Correcting both misperceptions substantially reduces the bias of respondents against FDI projects from China. These results suggest that corrective information can lead to positive change in public attitudes, a finding that has important policy implications for Canadian leaders hoping to expand the country's business ties with China.

How Do the Components of Procedural Justice and Driver Race Influence Encounter-Specific Perceptions of Police Legitimacy During Traffic Stops?

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1200-1216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Starr J. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Treatment Quality ◽  
Police Legitimacy ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
The Public ◽  
Perceptions Of Police ◽  
Influence Perceptions

Procedural justice is often recognized as the key antecedent of police legitimacy. However, less is known about how the components of procedural justice, treatment and decision-making quality, influence perceptions of police legitimacy. This study utilizes a 2 × 2 × 2 survey experiment to explore the direct effects of the components of procedural justice, and the moderating effects of driver race, on perceptions of encounter-specific fairness and legitimacy. Results indicate that treatment quality is a more salient predictor of encounter-specific fairness and legitimacy than decision-making quality. In addition, simple effects analyses reveal that driver race moderates perceptions of encounter-specific fairness but not encounter-specific perceptions of legitimacy. The findings imply that police officers should emphasize respectful treatment during encounters with the public.

scholarly journals Individual-Level Determinants of the Public Acceptance of Policy Measures to Improve Urban Air Quality: The Case of the Barcelona Low Emission Zone

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1168
Author(s):  
Christian Oltra ◽  
Roser Sala ◽  
Sergi López-Asensio ◽  
Silvia Germán ◽  
Àlex Boso
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Urban Air Quality ◽  
Public Acceptance ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
The Public ◽  
Low Emission

A variety of policy instruments that impose restrictions on traffic are being put in place across European cities to improve urban air quality. These measures include various schemes such as congestion charges, low emission zones (LEZs) and other traffic calming measures. In this paper, we are interested in the public acceptance of LEZs. Recent studies show high levels of public support for LEZs across Europe. However, specific research on public attitudes towards LEZs is limited. We conducted a self-administered survey (online) among residents in Barcelona, Spain. Based on a previous analytical model, bivariate and path analysis modelling was used to examine the association between key independent variables and acceptance. The results showed that most surveyed residents had a positive attitude towards implementing the LEZ, perceiving this policy instrument as a fair and effective measure to reduce air pollution. Perceived process legitimacy, perceived global impacts and affect had a significant direct effect on acceptance. Prior attitudes and personal orientations and, to a lesser extent, personal characteristics, were indirectly associated with levels of acceptance.

scholarly journals Digital Agora: A Physical and Digital Space for Participatory Democracy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Henrique H.F. de Cristo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
The City ◽  
Public Decision ◽  
Public Decision Making

This paper presents the concept of the Digital Agora(DA): a physical + digital space for participatory democracy that responds to the global demand for more participation on the public decision making of cities by integrating specific public policies for instruments of direct democracy, spaces for systematization, synthesis and articulation, and effective technologies to generate a new calibration between representative and direct democracy at the city level.

Atomic Aversion: Experimental Evidence on Taboos, Traditions, and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
DARYL G. PRESS ◽  
SCOTT D. SAGAN ◽  
BENJAMIN A. VALENTINO
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
The Public ◽  
Conventional Weapons ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
Do So

How strong are normative prohibitions on state behavior? We examine this question by analyzing anti-nuclear norms, sometimes called the “nuclear taboo,” using an original survey experiment to evaluate American attitudes regarding nuclear use. We find that the public has only a weak aversion to using nuclear weapons and that this aversion has few characteristics of an “unthinkable” behavior or taboo. Instead, public attitudes about whether to use nuclear weapons are driven largely by consequentialist considerations of military utility. Americans’ willingness to use nuclear weapons increases dramatically when nuclear weapons provide advantages over conventional weapons in destroying critical targets. Americans who oppose the use of nuclear weapons seem to do so primarily for fear of setting a negative precedent that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons by other states against the United States or its allies in the future.

The Politician and the Judge: Accountability in Government

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 1034-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Maskin ◽  
Jean Tirole
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Simple Model ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
The One

We build a simple model to capture the major virtues and drawbacks of making public officials accountable (i.e., subjecting them to reelection): On the one hand, accountability allows the public to screen and discipline their officials; on the other, it may induce those officials to pander to public opinion and put too little weight on minority welfare. We study when decision-making powers should be allocated to the public directly (direct democracy), to accountable officials (called “politicians”), or to nonaccountable officials (called “judges”).

scholarly journals Who Knows Better What the City Should Be?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-87
Author(s):  
Сабин Калке ◽  
Марина Викторовна Сапунова
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
City Council ◽  
Territorial Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The City

The Local Government Reform in Northern Ireland in 2015 returned decision-making powers on territorial development to the local level. Sabine Kalke, who worked in the department before and after the reform, spoke in her interview about the changes they faced and what additional powers were transferred to local government. The changes mostly affected interactions with stakeholders and the actual development strategy of Belfast. Today, the city determines the priorities and development goals at the local level, and negotiations with major developers are based on these goals. As a result, the interaction has become more meaningful and mutually beneficial. The reform provides the City Council with a certain flexibility in decision-making: its position remains strong, but with the ability to adjust the plans. After all, the urban development process benefits both the private and the public sector. In this sense, the readiness of each of the parties to an open dialogue becomes key. The experience of Belfast is becoming particularly important regarding changes in the Russian local government system, which has lost much authority in recent years.

scholarly journals Popular Referendum and Electoral Accountability

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Le Bihan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Elected Representatives

This paper studies how citizen-initiated referenda affect the decision-making of elected representatives. In the absence of direct democracy, elected officials who do not share the preferences of voters may enact their preferred policies even at the cost of decreasing the likelihood of reelection. Direct democracy diminishes the policy benefits of doing that, as voters may now overturn some of the policy decisions. Hence, elected officials are induced to implement the policies preferred by the voters not only on those issues that are subject to a possible citizen-initiated referendum, but also on those that are not. This result holds even when the voters’ information about their true interests is limited. Moreover, whereas in a representative democracy, being more informed may undermine voters’ ability to control public officials, the possibility of citizen-initiated referenda means that additional information improves voter control, including on issues that may be outside the direct democracy domain.

scholarly journals Understanding Political – Administrative Relations in Local Governments in Tanzania: A Case of Tanga City Council

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 352
Author(s):  
Kelvin M. Njunwa
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
City Council ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
The Government ◽  
Appointed Officials ◽  
The Relationship

Political-administrative relations are attracting the attention of researchers in the current public administration domain in developing countries. Local governments in Tanzania operate based on two types of officials namely; politicians and administrators and whose performance is largely dependent on the relationship of the two. The purpose of the paper was to provide a clear picture of the political-administrative relation in local governments. The study adopted a case study design by purposefully selecting Tanga City Council. A total of fifty (50) respondents were selected purposefully based on their knowledge and experience in working with the elected officials. The methods of data collection used include, survey method, interview, observation, Focus Group Discussion and Key Focus Interview (KFIs). Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis and quantitative data were analysed using SPSS whereby descriptive statistics were computed. The study revealed that the relationship between the elected and the appointed officials is characterized by conflict, distrust and interference that negatively affect employee’s performance in local government. Further, the study revealed that poor relations is highly associated with conflict of interests, distrust, task interdependence, political interference, lack of education on the side of politicians, poor communication and partisan politics. The study recommends that the government should have a regular monitoring of the relations between the two and encourage cooperation. Also the elected officials need to be trained on how to perform their roles in their areas of jurisdiction. The study recommend further that the elected and the appointed officials should  perform their duties for public interests, increase the level of trust and do away with partisan politics in performing local government functions.

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