ABSTRACT
The relationship between public opinion and public policy is a two-way street.1 In one direction, we observe public preferences influencing government activity and policy outcomes, as we would expect in a democracy. That said, the correspondence between what the public says that it wants and what it gets out of government varies across time and across issues. Moreover, some groups in society-the economically privileged and the highly politically active, for instance-tend to get more of their preferences fulfilled than do others, raising concerns about the policy consequences of economic and political inequality.
