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Bicameralism and Policy Responsiveness to Public Opinion
[journal article]
Abstract Does the organization of the assembly affect whether governments deliver policy that reflects the public’s changingpreferences? Cross-national analyses of public opinion and policy outputs for policies concerning welfare and immigrationshow that governments respond to shifts in public opinion in sys... view more
Does the organization of the assembly affect whether governments deliver policy that reflects the public’s changingpreferences? Cross-national analyses of public opinion and policy outputs for policies concerning welfare and immigrationshow that governments respond to shifts in public opinion in systems with a dominant chamber but not where bicameralismis strong. Our theory’s emphasis on the distribution of powerbetweenchambers further explains differenceswithinbicam-eral systems: constraints on policy change mean that responsiveness is weaker where power is equally distributed betweenchambers but more robust where power is concentrated in the lower house. Evidence from institutional change in Belgium,where the fourth state reform shifted power away from the senate and disproportionately toward the lower house, providescorroborating evidence that policy becomes more responsive when constitutions concentrate legislative power. This study’sfindings have implications for our understanding of how bicameralism matters for government responsiveness to publicopinion.... view less
Keywords
bicameralism; legislative; political lawsuit; public opinion; government; Eurobarometer; quantitative method; Europe; Belgium
Classification
Political System, Constitution, Government
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
policy responsivness; policy output; The Mannheim Eurobarometer Trend File 1970-2002 (ed. 2.00) (ZA3521 v2.0.1)
Document language
English
Publication Year
2023
Page/Pages
p. 1-17
Journal
American Journal of Political Science (2023) Early View
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12773
ISSN
0092-5853
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed