ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how well Niagara Frontier leaders correctly discern the public's views on several environmental issues. This is done by constructing an overall measure of leader empathic ability. The chapter explains why some leaders predict public opinion more accurately than others. Clausen's paper describes and compares studies in the social sciences, and especially in political science, dealing with leader predictions of constituents' views. Using the predictive capability scale the empathic ability of elected and nonelected officials is compared. Although a difference between elected and nonelected leaders' mean predictive capability exists, the difference is not statistically significant. The chapter examines a number of variables that may influence leader empathic ability. There will be times when leaders involved in environmental planning will have to make decisions without the benefit of citizen input. Sometimes leaders may use their knowledge of party affiliates' views, via belief-sharing, to formulate perceptions of public opinion on environmental issues.
