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Do Politicians Shape Public Opinion?

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  • Matsubayashi, Tetsuya

Abstract

Most research on political representation focuses on how citizens’ ideology and partisanship influence their support for political candidates – leaving the question of whether (and how) elected officials influence citizens’ positions on political issues open to debate. The hypothesis tested here – using a unique, quasi-experimental design with American National Election Study data between 1956 and 2004 – is that Democratic representatives shift the opinions of constituents in the pro-Democratic and liberal direction, while Republican representatives shift constituents’ opinions in the pro-Republican and conservative direction. The findings show that incumbent representatives indeed move their constituents’ opinions in a particular direction, and that representatives have a stronger impact on constituents who are more frequently exposed to their messages.

Suggested Citation

  • Matsubayashi, Tetsuya, 2013. "Do Politicians Shape Public Opinion?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 451-478, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:43:y:2013:i:02:p:451-478_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlsson, Magnus & Dahl, Gordon B. & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2016. "Do Politicians Change Public Attitudes?," IZA Discussion Papers 10349, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Ridlo, Ilham Akhsanu, 2024. "The Intersection of Journalism and Health Policy in Indonesia’s Political Campaign," SocArXiv tkfcx, Center for Open Science.
    3. Sofia Paschero & Jody McBrien, 2021. "National Identity and Integration Challenges of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Recipients," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Magnus Carlsson & Gordon B. Dahl & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2018. "Backlash in Attitudes After the Election of Extreme Political Parties," CESifo Working Paper Series 7210, CESifo.
    5. Carlsson, Magnus & Dahl, Gordon B. & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2021. "Backlash in policy attitudes after the election of an extreme political party," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).

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