A longitudinal study of the linkage between public opinion and the policy decisions of U.S. Senators /
Informed by normative and empirical arguments of democratic theory as well as past research on the linkage between public preferences and policy decisions in the United States, this dissertation addresses two related research questions. First, there is an empirical examination of the influence of st...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1995.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=742711981&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Informed by normative and empirical arguments of democratic theory as well as past research on the linkage between public preferences and policy decisions in the United States, this dissertation addresses two related research questions. First, there is an empirical examination of the influence of state and national public preferences on the direction of policy decisions of U.S. Senators over time. The dissertation also examines whether elections and political parties are factors which enhance the linkage between opinion and policy. The dissertation addresses these research questions with pooled cross-sectional time-series data on national public policy preferences in four issue areas, policy decisions of the U.S. Senators in those areas, and a variety of additional political and economic attributes which are theorized to influence public opinion and American national political institutions. I find that senators tend to respond to both state and national constituent preferences. I find contradictory evidence about whether a variety of election factors enhance responsiveness to local constituents. I find different patterns of responsiveness between members of the two major political parties. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Political Science". |
| Physical Description: | viii, 189 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |