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Political Parties, Public Opinion, and State Policy in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Robert S. Erikson ,
Gerald C. Wright Jr.  and
John P. McIver
Robert S. Erikson
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Gerald C. Wright Jr.
Affiliation:
Indiana University
John P. McIver
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
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Abstract

When comparing states in the United States, one finds little correlation between state opinion and party control of the state legislature or between party control and state policy. Although these low correlations seeming to indicate that partisan politics is irrelevant to the representation process, the opposite is true. State opinion influences the ideological positions of state parties, and parties' responsiveness to state opinion helps to determine their electoral success. Moreover, parties move toward the center once in office. For these reasons, state electoral politics is largely responsible for the correlation between state opinion and state policy.

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Articles
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American Political Science Review , Volume 83 , Issue 3 , September 1989 , pp. 729 - 750
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1989

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