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The Citizen as Respondent: Sample Surveys and American Democracy Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1995

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  • Verba, Sidney

Abstract

Citizen participation is the main way in which the public communicates its needs and preferences to the government and induces the government to be responsive. Since participation depends on resources and resources are unequally distributed, the resulting communication is a biased representation of the public. Thus, the democratic ideal of equal consideration is violated. Sample surveys provide the closest approximation to an unbiased representation of the public because participation in a survey requires no resources and because surveys eliminate the selection bias inherent in the fact that participants in politics are self-selected. The contrast between the participatory process and the sample survey is used to highlight the nature of the bias in the former. Surveys, however, are not seen as a practical way of providing more equal representation.

Suggested Citation

  • Verba, Sidney, 1996. "The Citizen as Respondent: Sample Surveys and American Democracy Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1995," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(1), pages 1-7, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:90:y:1996:i:01:p:1-7_20
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    Cited by:

    1. Henning Silber & Patricia Moy & Timothy P Johnson & Rico Neumann & Sven Stadtmüller & Lydia Repke, 2022. "Survey participation as a function of democratic engagement, trust in institutions, and perceptions of surveys," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(7), pages 1619-1632, December.

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