Public Opinion, Organized Interests, and Policy Congruence in Initiative and Noninitiative U.S. States

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Monogan ◽  
Virginia Gray ◽  
David Lowery
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
General State ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
State Public Policy ◽  
The Impact

We consider the impact of direct democracy on state public policy by examining whether initiatives alter the effects of predictors in models of general state policy liberalism. These analyses are couched in Erikson, Wright, and McIver's (1993) opinion liberalism model of state public policy, as augmented by Gray et al.'s (2004) inclusion of measures of organized interests. After presenting our theoretical expectations, we test the different ways that public opinion, organized interests, and initiatives can interact in the determination of public policy with a variety of models. We find little evidence that initiatives alter the congruence between opinion and policy.

scholarly journals The Impact of State Party Elite Ideology

1994 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 304-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald C. Wright ◽  
Robert S. Erikson ◽  
John P. McIver
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
State Policy ◽  
State Politics ◽  
Spatial Theory ◽  
State Party ◽  
Party Elites ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

This study looks at the impact of state party elite ideology in American state politics. Drawing on the spatial theory of Anthony Downs, we develop hypotheses first to explain the non-convergence of candidates. Party elites are ideologically distinct, influential and strongly policy motivated. They are a force pulling candidates away from the average voter in varying degrees across the states. Second, elites influence public policy. Although the single greatest influence on the general liberalism- conservatism of state policy is public opinion, the ideological tendencies of the party elites have an important added impact. Finally, we examine the long-term impact of party elite ideology on state partisanship. We find that ideological extremism loses party identifiers; across the states, the ideological tendencies of party elites, relative to public opinion, is an important influence on state partisanship. Party elites, particularly the policy motivated activists, are an important force shaping politics in the states.

Direct Democracy and the Link between Public Opinion and State Abortion Policy

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Arceneaux
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Abortion Policy ◽  
Underlying Distribution ◽  
Science Theory ◽  
Abortion Attitudes ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
The Impact

Is public policy in states that allow initiatives and referenda more responsive to public opinion than in states that do not? Political science theory provides conflicting answers to this question. On one hand, these direct democracy mechanisms give citizens a direct voice in public policy, which may directly and indirectly shape policy to their wishes. On the other hand, formal theories of collective choice call into question the ability of direct democracy to produce policy that reflects the underlying distribution of mass preferences. This study tests these competing hypotheses by assessing the impact of public opinion on abortion policy using a new survey-based measure of state-level abortion attitudes (Brace et al. 2002). The empirical findings indicate that states with initiatives and referenda are more responsive to public opinion on abortion policy.

State Direct Democracy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Bowler ◽  
Todd Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Federal Courts ◽  
Future Research ◽  
National Politics ◽  
State Initiatives ◽  
State Variation ◽  
Initiative Process

In this article, the authors assess the relationships between opinion, public policy, and state-level direct democracy. They argue that despite assumptions about dramatic effects of direct democracy on state policy, evidence on the matter is mixed and we know relatively little about how popular initiatives translate public opinion into policies. They examine the citizen initiative process in the context of the broader study of cross-state variation in policy and consider how initiatives might make policy more responsive to public opinion. Additionally, the authors evaluate the two-way relationship between state initiatives and national politics and how federal courts may constrain the initiative’s ability to shape policy. Directions for future research are explored in the conclusion.

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.

Public Opinion, Public Policy, and Organized Interests in the American States

2004 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Gray ◽  
David Lowery ◽  
Matthew Fellowes ◽  
Andrea Mcatee
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
American States

THE PUBLIC POLICY OF INFORMATION SOCIETY

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Alina Yakymchuk ◽  
Victoria Yaroshchuk
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Information Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
General State ◽  
Information Protection ◽  
The Public ◽  
Entire Complex ◽  
The Creation

The main objectives of the state policy in the field of information, which is the reason for the creation of appropriate conditions for achieving this goal were definited. In particular, coordination of the central executive authorities to address the problems of information, execution of functions of the general state of the customer National Informatization Program projects, the organization of international cooperation in matters of information and the like. The state policy of information covers the entire complex of relations that arise: in the creation, collection, storage, processing, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information; in the preparation and use of information and information resources; while ensuring the sovereignty of information, information security and information protection.

State Policy and Democratic Representation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Jacoby ◽  
Saundra K. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
State Policy ◽  
State Level ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Democratic Representation ◽  
Policy Variation ◽  
The Relationship

The authors in this chapter emphasize state policy variation with respect to democratic representation of public interests. They examine the literature concerning the connection between public opinion and the actions of government officials and institutions. The authors consider the various approaches that have been employed in the scholarly literature to measure public opinion in the states. They also explore the ways that researchers have captured state-level public policy in empirical indicators. The authors then discuss strategies for representing the relationship between state opinion and policy, as well as various factors that may mediate the connection between the two. In this process the authors cover the existing literature and also highlight unresolved issues and potential future directions for scholarly research.

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