ABSTRACT
The key function of elections in democratic theory is to ensure the responsiveness of public officials to the preferences of citizens. That elevates voter policy influence to the top of democracy’s hierarchy of values, securely above such recently prominent concerns as social capital (e.g., Putnam 2000) and deliberation (e.g., Fishkin 1995). The problem, as we have seen, is that, in contemporary American political practice, such influence is not only weak but also in decline. The decline is documented by the research cited in Chapter 1, and the weakness is apparent in the analyses of the workings of direct, anticipatory, and legitimizing influence contained in Chapters 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
