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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government > Central government policies
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Politicians Don't Pander - Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness (Hardcover, 2nd ed.)
Loot Price: R2,530
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Politicians Don't Pander - Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness (Hardcover, 2nd ed.)
Series: Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion
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Public opinion polls are everywhere. Journalists report their
results without hesitation, and political activists of all kinds
spend millions of dollars on them, fueling the widespread
assumption that elected officials "pander" to public opinion--that
they tailor their policy decisions to the results of polls.
In this provocative and engagingly written book, the authors argue
that the reality is quite the opposite. In fact, when not facing
election, contemporary presidents and members of Congress routinely
ignore the public's policy preferences and follow their own
political philosophies, as well as those of their party's
activists, their contributors, and their interest group allies.
Politicians devote substantial time, effort, and money to tracking
public opinion, not for the purposes of policymaking, but to change
public opinion--to determine how to craft their public statements
and actions to win support for the policies they and their
supporters want.
Taking two recent, dramatic episodes--President Clinton's failed
health care reform campaign, and Newt Gingrich's "Contract with
America"--as examples, the authors show how both used public
opinion research and the media to change the public's mind. Such
orchestrated displays help explain the media's preoccupation with
political conflict and strategy and, the authors argue, have
propelled levels of public distrust and fear of government to
record highs.
Revisiting the fundamental premises of representative democracy,
this accessible book asks us to reexamine whether our government
really responds to the broad public or to the narrower interests
and values of certain groups. And with the 2000 campaign season
heating up, "Politicians Don't Pander" could not be more timely.
"'Polling has turned leaders into followers, ' laments columnist
Marueen Dowd of "The New York Times." Well, that's news definitely
not fit to print say two academics who have examined the polls and
the legislative records of recent presidents to see just how
responsive chief executives are to the polls. Their conclusion: not
much. . . . In fact, their review and analyses found that public
opinion polls on policy appear to have increasingly less, not more,
influence on government policies."--Richard Morin, "The Washington
Post"
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