Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics

Politics is a trial in which those in government - and those who aspire to serve - make proposals, debate alternatives, and pass laws. Then the jury of public opinion decides. It likes the proposals or actions or it does not. It trusts the actors or it doesn't. It moves, always at the margin, and then those who benefit from the movement are declared winners. This book is about that public opinion response. Its most basic premise is that although public opinion rarely matters in a democracy, public opinion change is the exception. Public opinion rarely matters because the public rarely cares enough to act on its concerns or preferences. Change happens only when the threshold of normal public inattention is crossed. When public opinion changes, governments rise or fall, elections are won or lost, and old realities give way to new demands.

Author: James A. Stimson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08/25/2015
Pages: 196
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781107518919

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2016

About the Author
Stimson, James A.: - James A. Stimson is the Raymond Dawson Distinguished Bicentennial Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A former president of the Midwest Political Science Association and Treasurer of the American Political Science Association, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. He has authored and co-authored numerous books including Yeas and Nays: Normal Decision-Making in the US House of Representatives, Issue Evolution: Race and the Reconstruction of American Politics, Public Opinion in America, Ideology in America, and The Macro Polity. Professor Stimson has served as Editor of Political Analysis and has served on the editorial board of journals such as the American Journal of Political Science and The Journal of Politics. He has authored many articles published in major journals of political science and is the recipient of various awards for his distinguished scholarship.