The Dynamics of Representation: The Public, Politics, and Budgetary Policy

本研究调查的重点是相互关系 舆论和政策之间的关系 虽然很多人都知道 关于公众舆论是否会影响政策， 公众本身是否对政策行为做出反应， 调整其对政策活动的偏好， 政策制定者们确实如此。 积极响应的公众将有效地 就像一个恒温器，在那里， 温度产生了相应调整政策的信号， 一旦被充分调整，信号就停止。 这项研究调查考虑的是公众的行为是否 恒温，并主要依赖于统计分析， 随着时间的推移，预算政策和公众的支出偏好， 在一系列预算意见领域。 该研究解决了 公众倾向于增加支出， 预算政策和这些决定的影响，反过来， 公众偏好。 初步分析显示， 公共投入之间的强有力的相互联系， 政策制定过程及其产生的产出。 在其 最简单的意义上说，当公众想要更多支出时，就会得到更多支出， 当它得到更多的时候它就不想要更多了。 本研究 对公共政策/舆论产生重要见解 相互关系

This research investigation focuses on the interrelationship between public opinion and policy over time. While a lot is known about whether public opinion influences policy, little is known about whether the public is itself responsive to policy behavior, adjusting its preferences for policy activity in response to what policymakers acutally do. A responsive public would effectively behave like a thermostat, where a deaprture from the favored policy temperature produces a signal to adjust policy accordingly and, once sufficiently adjusted, the signal stops. This research investigation considers whether the public behaves thermostatically, and relies primarily on statistical analyses of budgetary policy and public preferences for spending over time, across a range of budget opinion domains. The research addresses both the influence of public preferences for more spending on budgetary policy and the influence of those decisions, in turn, on public preferences. Preliminary analysis suggests that there are strong reciprocal connections between public inputs into the policymaking process and the outputs the process generates. In its simplest sense, when the public wants more spending it gets more, and when it gets more it doesn't want as much more. This research produces important insights in the public policy/public opinion interrelationship.