Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States

by Robert S. Erikson, Gerald C. Wright, John P. McIver

The importance of public opinion in the determination of public policy is the subject of considerable debate. Professors Erikson, Wright, and McIver make the argument that state policies are highly responsive to public opinion, and they show how the institutions of state politics work to achieve this high level of responsiveness. They analyze state policies from the 1930s to the present, drawing from and contributing to major lines of research on American politics. Their conclusions are applied to central questions of democratic theory, and affirm the robust character of state institutions.

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 1994

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In its day, this was one of the most exciting works that attempted to link public opinion with states' policy choices. Using a data base that provided public opinion data at the state level, the authors were able to tease out a relationship between the public's views on policy and what state government actually did with respect to policy making. The end result suggests that the public's views matter.

Highly recommended. . . .

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtfully written..... The authors have marshaled an impressive mass of data to prove their hypothesis that at the state level public opinion is of major importance for the determination of state policy. This is a solid analysis of public opinion and public policies in the state. An excellent piece of research.
Choice

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A work that anyone interested in differences across the states should read carefully.… this book makes some very significant contributions to our study of state politics.

The authors are to be commended for undertaking this project, for the range of data they have assembled, and for contributing to our understanding of state differences.

This is one of the better written books to appear lately. The writing is clear, concise and communicates very well. Graphs are used well. It is a model of clarity of presentation and writing.

Jeff Stonecash, American Political Science Review