Public Opinion and American Democracy

Public Opinion Quarterly at its outset focused heavily on the influences on public opinion, predicated on the assumption of its strong impact on politics and policymaking. Has this assumption been borne out? This essay reviews the research on the influence of American public opinion on policymaking that began to use survey data first to examine the legislative representation and then national-level and state-level policies. POQ's assumption has been confirmed by a substantial connection, overall, between public opinion and policymaking in the United States. Although this general finding is striking, there are limits to what we can conclude from it about American democracy. This raises important questions for future research and in ongoing debates about major issues before the nation, for which the public holds its leaders accountable.