Degrees of Democracy
Politics, Public Opinion, and Policy

Examines responsiveness and representation across a range of policy domains in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Stuart N. Soroka (Author), Christopher Wlezien (Author)

9780521687898, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 December 2009

254 pages, 25 b/w illus. 19 tables
23.1 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.35 kg

'Students of contemporary democracies frequently fret about all sorts of ways in which the will of the people is perverted and popular governance undermined. Soroka and Wlezien bring us important good news: democracy works. Degrees of Democracy carefully and systematically shows that public policy responds to popular preferences, but also that when governments push policy too far in a particular direction, voters adjust their demands and rein them in. Yet, policy responsiveness and representation are shaped by political institutions, and the authors' comparisons of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States highlight intriguing differences between these democracies. This is an ambitious and important book that deserves a broad audience.' Kaare Strom, University of California, San Diego

This book develops and tests a 'thermostatic' model of public opinion and policy. The representation of opinion in policy is central to democratic theory and everyday politics. So too is the extent to which public preferences are informed and responsive to changes in policy. The coexistence of both 'public responsiveness' and 'policy representation' is thus a defining characteristic of successful democratic governance, and the subject of this book. The authors examine both responsiveness and representation across a range of policy domains in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The story that emerges is one in which representative democratic government functions surprisingly well, though there are important differences in the details. Variations in public responsiveness and policy representation responsiveness are found to reflect the 'salience' of the different domains and governing institutions - specifically, presidentialism (versus parliamentarism) and federalism (versus unitary government).

Preface
1. Public opinion and policy in representative democracy
2. The thermostatic model
3. Adding issues and institutions
4. Public preferences and spending - a preliminary analysis
5. Parameters of public responsiveness
6. Public responsiveness explored
7. Policy representation
8. Homogeneity and heterogeneity in public and policy responsiveness
9. Responsiveness and representation.

Subject Areas: Media, information & communication industries [KNT], Public opinion & polls [JPVK], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP], Media studies [JFD]