Bulletin n. 3/2010 | ||
January 2011 | ||
Wlezien Christopher and Soroka Stuart N. |
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Federalism and Public Responsiveness to Policy | ||
in Publius: The Journal of Federalism , vol. 41, n. 1, Winter - Symposium on Public Opinion and Federalism , 2011 , 31-52 | ||
Public responsiveness to government policy is a crucial component of representative democracy, but may be far weaker in federal regimes. This article explores the consequences of federalism for public responsiveness in one highly federalized policy domain: welfare spending in Canada. Results suggest that citizens’ preferences for spending at the federal level are affected by changes in both federal and provincial spending, and to an equal degree; they suggest, in short, that federalism poses serious problems where public responsiveness is concerned. A concluding section considers the implications of these findings for the representation of public opinion in policy in federalized states. | ||