Reading and Perceiving Public Opinion as a Mechanism of Representation

AbstractThe chapter argues why students of representation should consider politicians’ reading of public opinion. Previous empirical and theoretical work is referenced to show that how politicians make sense of public opinion, and especially the conclusions they reach about the state of public opinion, have an important impact on their legislative behavior and on their political behavior more generally. Whenever scholars have looked at the perceptions of politicians they have found them to matter. That perceptions are consequential, not only applies to “delegate-style” politics whereby elected representatives maximize responsiveness to people’s preferences but also to “trustee-style” politics as politicians who decide not to follow public opinion need a good explanation for their divergence from the public’s immediate wishes. And knowing public opinion helps in finding the right words. Finally, the chapter explains that there is little previous work on how politicians read public opinion and on how accurate politicians’ perceptions are.