Contextual Bases of Responsiveness to Citizen Preferences and Group Demands

In: Policy & politics, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 249-278

Abstract

It is frequently asserted by democratic theorists that policymakers should be highly responsive to citizen inputs. Because of its importance in normative theory, the concept of responsiveness has been the subject of many empirical investigations seeking to describe and explain the degree of responsiveness of American state and local governments. However, broad generalizations regarding the degree of responsiveness of these governments and general explanations specifying the social and political conditions enhancing responsiveness have not been forthcoming. A major reason for the lack of cumulative knowledge in this area is that the concept of responsiveness to citizen inputs has been treated in a casual and often ambiguous fashion.
Most scholars agree that responsiveness occurs when citizen concerns and activities, treated as input variables, are reflected in public policy, treated as output variables. A lack of responsiveness occurs when policymakers adopt and implement policies which are independent of, and contrary to, citizen concerns. However, the ambiguity of this definition is apparent if one considers the multiplicity of types of citizen inputs to which policymakers can potentially respond.