Project description DEENESFRITPL Understanding how public opinion shapes policymaking A vital element of any democracy is that government action responds to the preferences of its citizens. However, policy responsiveness varies across issues, time and countries. The EU-funded POLEVPOP project will investigate why this occurs, beginning from the assumption that politicians evaluate public opinion, letting their actions depend on their appraisal. Drawing on a comparative study in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, Portugal, Switzerland and Sweden, the project will identify the criteria politicians use to appraise public opinion and explore how (depending on this opinion and the channel through which it is conveyed) these help shape their decisions. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective In democracies, policies are expected to be responsive to public opinion. Extant research showed that responsiveness is selective. It varies across issues, time and countries. Yet, how come policies vary in their responsiveness has not received a satisfying answer. POLEVPOP formulates and examines a novel answer to the puzzle why policy responsiveness varies. Its core argument holds that politicians evaluate public opinion and let their actions—in line with public opinion or going against it—depend on their appraisal. When public opinion is evaluated negatively, it has no effect on what politicians do; that it is evaluated positively increases the chance that politicians act congruently. Politicians’ appraisal of public opinion has been completely overlooked as a mechanism bringing about responsive representation. Considering it a core factor POLEVPOP examines three matters: (1) which criteria politicians use to appraise public opinion; (2) how, depending on the opinion content of the message, the channel through which the opinion is conveyed and the group from which it comes, concrete public opinion signals are evaluated; and, (3) which effect these evaluations have on politicians’ political action. The central expectation is that public opinion is evaluated by politicians based on a consistent and common scoreboard. For instance, opinion signals are rated based on their representativity and underlying public opinion is evaluated on its quality and its intensity. The project tackles these matters drawing on a comparative study in eight different countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Portugal, Switzerland, and Sweden). In two consecutive rounds of data gathering, a large sample of politicians is surveyed and interviewed, and they are subjected to a series of survey-embedded experiments. To put politicians’ behavior in perspective, their answers are compared to parallel citizen surveys in all countries. Fields of science social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiespublic policiessocial sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systemsdemocracy Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2020-ADG - ERC ADVANCED GRANT Call for proposal ERC-2020-ADG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Net EU contribution € 2 499 062,00 Address Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerpen Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Antwerpen Arr. Antwerpen Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,50 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Belgium Net EU contribution € 2 499 062,00 Address Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerpen See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Antwerpen Arr. Antwerpen Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,50
