Public Attitudes Toward Democratic Processes in the United States

这项研究调查了人们希望在他们的政府中看到的过程。最近，无论是在学术界还是在流行圈子里，公众对政治的消极态度都引起了许多人的不满。如果不调查人们对政府如何处理事务的态度，就无法理解这种负面情绪。与其说公众对政府的所作所为感到不安，不如说是对它的做法感到不安。这部分公众情绪并没有受到那些对舆论感兴趣的人的重视。该项目依靠焦点小组和一项全国性调查来了解公民对政府程序的态度。这个项目探讨了人们希望政治机构将权力还给人民的程度；解释了为什么一些人比其他人更倾向于“民粹主义”；并确定人们对政府运作的不满是否会在他们对政府的认可、他们对政治制度的支持、他们遵守制度产生的法律的倾向以及他们对各种政治程序改革建议的热情方面产生影响。

This research investigates the processes people would like to see in their government. Much handwringing has taken place lately, both in academic and in popular circles, about the public's negativity toward politics. This negativity cannot be understood without investigating attitudes toward how the government goes about its business. The public is less upset with what the government does than with how it does it. This part of the public mood has not been accorded serious attention by those interested in public opinion. This project relies on focus groups and a national survey to tap citizen attitudes toward government processes. This project explores the extent to which people want political institutions to give power back to the people; explains why some people have more of a `populist` bent than others; and ascertains whether people's dissatisfaction with how government operates has consequences in terms of their approval of government, their support for the political system, their tendency to comply with laws produced by the system, and their enthusiasm for various proposals to reform political processes.