Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Loading next page...
/lp/oxford-university-press/public-opinion-and-parliamentary-action-responsiveness-of-the-german-Luu1fJ0NF3
References (0)
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Copyright
- © World Association for Public Opinion Research
- ISSN
- 0954-2892
- eISSN
- 1471-6909
- DOI
- 10.1093/ijpor/8.3.292
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
AbstractDoes the parliamentary behavior of members of parliament, parliamentary parties, and government correspond with the public's preferences regarding political issues? What conditions support the emergence of congruence between public opinion and public policy? These questions are central concerns of democratic theory. In this paper, they are investigated empirically for the activities in the federal German legislature, the German Bundestag, between 1949 and 1990. For this purpose, 94 time series of public opinion polls have been combined with content analysis of more than 3, 000 parliamentary documents (e.g. parliamentary questions, committe reports). If public opinion about a policy matter changes, approximately 60 percent of the respective parliamentary actions are congruent with the direction of opinion change. The congruence between public opinion and public policy is greatest for opinion changes in a conservative direction when the political status quo is supported. Even more important than the direction of opinion change is the public's majority opinion at the time of parliamentary action.
Journal
International Journal of Public Opinion Research – Oxford University Press
Published: Oct 1, 1996