The Rising Hegemony of Mass Opinion

Journal of Policy History

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 19-50

  Quirk, Paul J ^a   Hinchliffe, Joseph ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85008396019     PISSN: 08980306     EISSN: 15284190     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0898030600005510     Document Type: Article

References (139)

1. There is a significant literature, largely inspired by McCarthyism and the “radical right,” that criticizes mass movements, however. For a discussion and critique, see Michael Paul Rogin, The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter (Cambridge, 1967).
2. Joseph Bessette, The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government (Chicago, 1994)
3. Anthony King, Running Scared: Why America's Politicians Campaign Too Much and Govern Too Little (New York, 1997).
4. Theodore J. Lowi, The Personal President: Power Invested, Promise Unfulfilled (Ithaca, 1985)
5. Samuel Kernell, Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership (Washington, D.C. 1993)
6. Paul Brace and Barbara Hinckley, Follow the Leader: Opinion Polls and the Modern Presidents (New York, 1992).
7. Bessette, Mild Voice of Reason, 220–28
8. Thomas E. Mann, “Renewing Congress: A Report from the Front Lines,” in James A. Thurber and Roger H. Davidson, eds. Remaking Congress: Change and Stability in the 1990s (Washington, D.C. 1995), 174–85.
9. Thomas E. Cronin, Direct Democracy: The Politics of Initiative, Referendum, and Recall (Cambridge, 1989)
10. Mickey Kaus, “Why California Hates Politics,” Washington Monthly 17 (February 1985): 25-31.
11. Samuel P. Huntington, “The United States,” in Michael Crozier, The Crisis of Democracy: Report on Governability of Democracies to the Trilateral Commission (New York, 1975)
12. Samuel P. Huntington, American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony (Cambridge, Mass. 1981).
13. Richard A. Harris and Sidney M. Milkis, The Politics of Regulatory Change: A Tale of Two Agencies, 2d ed. (New York, 1996).
14. For a discussion of these views, see Jeffrey K. Tulis, “The Two Constitutional Presidencies,” in Michael Nelson, The Presidency and the Political System, 3d ed. (Washington, D.C. 1990), 85-115.
15. Tulis, “Two Constitutional Presidencies”
16. Kernell, Going Public.
17. Bessette, The Mild Voice of Reason, 1994.
18. John Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (New York, 1992).
19. Angus Campbell, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes, The American Voter (New York, 1960)
20. For a summary of this literature, see Norman H. Nie, Sidney Verba, and John R. Petrocik, The Changing American Voter (Cambridge, Mass. 1979).
21. V. O. Key, Public Opinion and American Democracy (New York, 1964), 557-58.
22. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1975 (Washington, D.C. 1975): 118 Table 199, “Years of School Completed, By Race and Sex: 1960 to 1974”
23. “New Books and New Editions Published, By Subject 1960 to 1974”
24. Nie, Verba, and Petrocik, Changing American Voter.
25. Nie, Verba, and Petrocik, Changing American Voter, 167, fig. 10.6, “Frequency of Evaluation of Candidates in Terms of Party Ties, Personal Attributes, and Issue Position”
26. 142, fig. 8.4, “The Rise of Political Consistency: Percent of Population with Consistent Attitudes, 1956-1973”
27. 143, fig. 8.5, “Distribution of Population on Political Beliefs.”
28. For a response, see Bruce E. Keith et al. The Myth of the Independent Voter (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1992)
29. James L.-Sullivan, James E. Parisian, and George E. Marcus, “Ideological Constraint in the Mass Public: A Methodological Critique and Some New Findings,” American Journal of Political Science 22 (May 1978): 323-49
30. George F. Bishop, Alfred J. Tuchfarber, and Robert W. Oldendick, “Change in the Structure of American Political Attitudes: The Nagging Question of Question Wording,” American Journal of Political Science 22 (May 1978): 250-69.
31. Norman H. Nie and James E. Rabjohn, “Revisiting Mass Belief Systems Revisited: Or, Doing Research Is Like Watching a Tennis Match.” American Journal of Political Science 23 (February 1979): 139-75.
32. Russell J. Dalton, Citizen Politics in Western Democracies: Public Opinion and Political Parties in the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, and France (Chatham, N.J. 1988), 192-200.
33. Citizen Politics in Western Democracies: Public Opinion and Political Parties in the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, and France, 200.
34. Michael X. Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter, What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters (New Haven, 1996).
35. Lawrence R. Jacobs and Robert Y. Shapiro, “The Rise of Presidential Polling: The Nixon White House in Historical Perspective,” Public Opinion Quarterly 59 (Summer 1995): 163-95.
36. Michael Barone, “The Power of the President's Pollsters,” Public Opinion 11 (September-October 1988): 2-4-25.
37. Kathleen Jamieson Hall, Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction, and Democracy (New York, 1992).
38. Gary C. Bryner, Blue Skies Green Politics: The Clean Air Act of 1990 and Its implementation (Washington, D.C. 1995), 107.
39. Hazel Erskine, “The Polls: Pollution and Its Costs,” Public Opinion Quarterly 36 (SpTing 1972): 120-35.
40. James R. Wagner, “Washington Pressures/Environmental Teach-In,” National Journal 2 (21 February 1970): 408-11.
41. Richard Corrigan, “Tough Local Actions on Air Quality Boost Nixon's National Standards Plan,” National Journal 2 (9 May 1970): 968-70.
42. James R. Wagner, “Environment Report/Cautious New Council Makes Presence Felt in Government,” National Journal 2 (5 September 1970): 1916-22.
43. Daniel J. Fiorino, Making Environmental Policy (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1995), 37.
44. Richard Corrigan, “Nixon, Democrats, Agencies Rush to Take up New Environmental Cause,” National Journal 2 (31 January 1970): 206–10.
45. Richard Corrigan, “Nixon's Antipollution Plan Seeks Federal Standards, Enforcement,” National Journal 2 (14 February 1970): 326-28.
46. Richard Corrigan, “Environment Report: Air Pollution Bill May Force Cities to Curb Use of Automobiles,” National Journal 2 (15 August 1970): 1756-58.
47. Charles O. Jones, Clean Air: The Policies and Politics of Pollution Control (Pittsburgh, 1975), 186-91.
48. “Clean Air Act Amendments,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 28 (19 June 1970): 1576-77.
49. Corrigan, “Tough Local Action,” 969–70.
50. R. Shep Melnik, Regulation and the Courts: The Case of the Clean Air Act (Washington, D.C. 1983), 26-27
51. Jones, Clean Air, 191–95
52. Corrigan, “Environment Report,” 1758.
53. Jones, Clean Air, 196.
54. “Senate Passes Stringent Anti-Pollution Bill, 73-0,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 28 (25 September 1970): 2315-20.
55. Alfred Marcus, “The Environmental Protection Agency,” in James Q. Wilson, ed. The Politics of Regulation (New York, 1980), 273.
56. Jones, Clean Air, 197.
57. Clean Air
58. Clean Air, 198.
59. Clean Air, 201.
60. “Senate Passes Stringent Anti-Pollution Bill,” 2316.
61. See, for example, Robert W. Crandall, Controlling Air Pollution: The Economicsand Politics of Clean Air (Washington, D.C. 1983)
62. Lawrence J. White, The Regulation of Air Pollution Emissions (Washington, D.C. 1982).
63. Roger H. Davidson and Walter J. Oleszek, Congress Against Itself (Bloomington, Ind. 1977), 270.
64. “Members Vote in Anonymity on Many Crucial Issues,” Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, 1970 (Washington, D.C. 1971), 454.
65. “First Congressional Reform Bill Enacted Since 1946,” Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 91st Congress, 2d Session, 1970 (Washington, D.C. 1971), 447-57.
66. Michael J. Malbin, “Congress Report/New Democratic Procedures Affect Distribution of Power,” National Journal 6 (14 December 1974): 1881-83.
67. “First Congressional Reform,” 448, 453.
68. First Congressional Reform, 453.
69. Andrew J. Glass, “Congressional Report/Legislative Reform Effort Builds New Alliances among House Members,” National Journal 2 (25 July 1970): 1607-14.
70. National Journal, 1611–12.
71. National Journal, 1612.
72. National Journal
73. “First Congressional Reform,” 453.
74. Ronald Garay, Congressional Television: A Legislative History (Westport, Conn. 1984), 35-65.
75. Congressional Television: A Legislative History, 57–84, 87-94, 97-103.
76. Congressional Television: A Legislative History, 64–69.
77. Congressional Television: A Legislative History, 79.
78. “House Gets Set to Televise Sessions with Its Own Hand on the Camera,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 35 (17 December 1977): 2605-2608.
79. “House Leadership Opposes Broadcast Plan,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 34 (20 March 1976): 623.
80. “Congress on TV: Who Will Control the Camera?” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 33 (26 April 1975): 866-70.
81. Martha Derthick, Policymaking for Social Security (Washington, D.C. 1979), 228-51.
82. Policymaking for Social Security, 230.
83. G. John Ikenberry and Theda Skocpol, “Expanding Social Benefits: The Role of Social Security,” Political Science Quarterly 102 (Fall 1987): 389-416.
84. Benjamin I. Page and Robert Y. Shapiro, The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans' Policy Preferences (Chicago, 1992), 119.
85. John Myles, “Postwar Capitalism and the Extension of Social Security into a Retirement Wage,” in Margaret Weir, Ann Shola Orloff, and Theda Skocpol, The Politics of Social Policy in the United States (Princeton, 1988), 274.
86. Derthick, Policymaking, 346.
87. Robert J. Myers, Social Security (Philadelphia, 1993), 388-89, 396-97, 432- 33.
88. Derthick, Policymaking, 367.
89. Richard F. Fenno Jr. Congressman in Committees (Boston, 1973), 54.
90. Derthick, Policymaking, 350.
91. Carolyn L. Weaver, The Crisis in Social Security, Economic and Political Origins (Durham, N.C. 1982), 166.
92. Derthick, Policymaking, 360
93. “Mills Proposes 20% Benefit Rise in Social Security,” Wall Street Journal, 24 February 1972, 2:2
94. “Nixon Aides, Others Puzzled by Mills Plan to Boost Social Security Benefits by 20%,” Wall Street Journal, 29 February 1972, 3:2.
95. Derthick, Policymaking, 367, 368.
96. Edward W. Chester, United States Oil Policy and Diplomacy: A Twentieth-Century Overview (Westport, Conn. 1983), 30-36.
97. United States Oil Policy and Diplomacy: A Twentieth-Century Overview, 45
98. “Oil Import Review Nears End; Substantial Changes May Ensue,” National Journal 1 (8 November 1969): 82-83
99. “Oil Import Policy,” Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 91st Congress, 2nd Session 1970, 26 (1971): 895-99.
100. David Glasner, Politics, Prices, and Petroleum: The Political Economy of Energy (San Francisco, 1985), 93-103.
101. Richard Corrigan, “Energy Report/Federal Energy Office Fuel Priorities Spell Trouble for American Motorists,” National Journal 5 (29 December 1973): 1950-51
102. “Mandatory Fuel Allocation Program Approved,” Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 93rd Congress, 1st Session 1973, 29 (1974): 523-631
103. Elder Witt, “Energy and Environment,” Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 94th Congress, 1st Session, 1975, 31 (1976): 173-76.
104. Pietro S. Nivola, The Politics of Energy Conservation (Washington, D.C. 1986), 23.
105. Richard Corrigan, “Energy Report/’Compromise’ Oil Bill Ends up Pleasing Few,” National Journal 7 (27 December 1975): 1735.
106. Richard Corrigan, “Energy Report/Ford, Congress Struggle over Petroleum Policy.” National Journal 7 (1 March 1975): 318-23.
107. Richard Corrigan, “Tower Seeks Bloc of Oil, Gas States,” National Journal 7 (15 March 1975): 402.
108. The member quoted was Representative Silvio Conte (R- Mass.).
109. Barbara C. Farhar, “The Polls—Poll Trends: Public Opinion about Energy,” Public Opinion Quarterly 58 (Winter 1994): 603-32.
110. Aaron Wildavsky and Ellen Tenenbaum, The Politics of Mistrust: EstimatingAmerican Oil and Gas Reserves (Beverly Hills, 1981), 121-22. (Italics in original.)
111. Nivola, The Politics of Energy Conservation, 52–67.
112. The Politics of Energy Conservation, 57–60
113. Wildavsky and Tenenbaum, Politics of Mistrust.
114. Nivola, The Politics of Energy Conservation, 57, 63.
115. The Politics of Energy Conservation, 27.
116. Wildavsky and Tenenbaum, Politics of Mistrust, 9.
117. Derthick and Quirk, 46.
118. Derthick and Quirk, 45–50.
119. Derthick and Quirk, 100-101; 120-25; 164-74.
120. Derthick and Quirk, n. 48.
121. Derthick and Quirk, 131.
122. Derthick and Quirk, 132 n. 66.
123. Derthick and Quirk, 134.
124. Derthick and Quirk, 132-33.
125. Anthony C. Campagna, The Econ&my in the Reagan Years: The Economic Consequences of the Reagan Administration (Westport, Conn. 1994), 32-34.
126. Page and Shapiro, The Rational Public, 160, fig. 4.16: “Taxes, 1947-1990.”
127. During this period, the percentage of the public believing that “too little” was spent for defense rose from 22 percent to 51 percent. William G. Mayer, The Changing American Mind: How and Why American Public Opinion Changed between 1960 and 1988 (Ann Arbor, Mich. 1993), 414.
128. The Changing American Mind: How and Why American Public Opinion Changed between 1960 and 1988, 93, 454–57, 468. About half of the public felt that the country was spending “too little” on “improving and protecting the environment,” “improving and protecting the nation's health,” and “improving the nation's education system.” Somewhat smaller numbers of people felt that “too little” was being spent on “improving public transportation” (about 40-50 percent); “solving the problems of the big cities” (about 40 percent); and “improving the conditions of blacks” (about 25 percent).
129. Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, Tax Reductions: Economists' Comments on H.R. 8333 and S. 1860 (The Kemp-Roth Bills)
130. Bills to Provide for Permanent Tax Rate Reductions for Individuals and Businesses (Washington, D.C. 1978), 17.
131. Bills to Provide for Permanent Tax Rate Reductions for Individuals and Businesses, 71.
132. Bills to Provide for Permanent Tax Rate Reductions for Individuals and Businesses, 92.
133. Bills to Provide for Permanent Tax Rate Reductions for Individuals and Businesses, 89.
134. Bills to Provide for Permanent Tax Rate Reductions for Individuals and Businesses, 86-91.
135. Stockman revealed his opinion a few months after the debate was over in a notorious magazine interview: William Greider, “The Education of David Stockman,” The Atlantic Monthly 248, December 1981, 27–54.
136. Gail Gregg, ‘“Let Us Act Together’ Reagan Exhorts Congress,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 39 (21 February 1981): 331-37.
137. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, 333.
138. Kernell, Going Public, 121–55.
139. Campagna, The Economy in the Reagan Years, 79.