SC Connecticut News

Authored By Rick Harrison

June 26, 2024

What do Americans care about? According to the most recent annual Gallup national issues poll, conducted in March, the number one concern is inflation, followed closely by crime and violence, hunger and homelessness, and the economy. However, when asked for unprompted responses, immigration ranks first. These preferences also vary significantly based on political affiliations.

Earlier this month, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies’ Center for the Study of American Politics (CSAP) held a conference exploring what political science research reveals about public issue preferences. The event addressed questions such as how to determine what people want from their government and whether voters are capable of making meaningful decisions in democratic elections.

“What I really like about this conference is gathering a bunch of people who are doing basic research on a common theme but approaching it from a whole variety of perspectives,” said Gregory Huber, director of CSAP and chair of the Political Science Department at Yale University. “We’ve got researchers who study voter behavior using the tools of formal theory, others who use large-scale analysis of survey data, and still others who focus on experimentation.”

ISPS advances interdisciplinary research in social sciences aimed at shaping public policy and informing democratic deliberation.

Presentations at the CSAP conference included Christopher Hare from the University of California, Davis (UCD) on reconsidering issue salience in American voting behavior; Erik Snowberg from the University of Utah on citizen preference coherence; Delia Baldassarri from New York University on decision-making among independents and moderates; Cheryl Boudreau from UCD on endorsements' influence; Benjamin Lauderdale from University College London on polarization over political problems; and Chris Tausanovitch from UCLA on minorities overcoming majority preferences.

“I value democracy,” said Lilla Orr, assistant professor at the University of Richmond. “And I think we have our best shot at successful self-governance if we have some understanding of how people think about politics.”

Snowberg presented a working paper co-authored with Huber and Yale Ph.D. student Nicholas Ottone. Their findings suggest that around 80% of surveyed individuals express coherent policy preferences approximately 80% of the time. This contrasts with Philip E. Converse's 1964 conclusion that "large portions of an electorate do not have meaningful beliefs."

Katherine Krimmel from Barnard College noted that while it might be easier to understand preferred policy actions than prioritizing problems accurately due to infinite possibilities, Americans can form reasonably well-developed preferences even if they don't align perfectly with partisan landscapes.

Between presentations, Lauderdale discussed challenges in surveying individuals unfamiliar with certain topics but emphasized learning valuable insights despite these limitations.

Tausanovitch highlighted that while voters may not know every detail about complex policies, their views still significantly impact behavior. Researchers need to understand public opinions even if they lack nuance or completeness because governmental choices should ideally align with voters' values.

“Studying the influence that voters have on the political system means trying to understand what voters care about,” Tausanovitch concluded. “And trying to find areas where we would expect voters’ opinions to make a difference.”