| Popis: |
The concluding chapter reiterates the main findings of the book: politicians care intensely about public opinion, try hard to form a correct picture of it, and largely follow public opinion when acting. As much as they want to, they often cannot succeed in acting in a responsive way because of mistaken perceptions. The chapter argues that differing degrees of perceptual inaccuracy across issues might explain the selective responsiveness found at the aggregate policy level. A range of possibly negative implications of inaccuracy and bias in politicians’ perceptions are addressed. Inaccurate perceptions may lead to political action that does not match citizen preferences, it may spark ineffective explanations of policies, it could lead to a dissatisfied citizenry, to electoral volatility, and, ultimately, to mutual miscomprehension of politicians and citizens. Erroneous representation, the chapter argues, starts with the original sin of incorrect voting that then, via social projection, reverberates throughout the entire representational system. Finally, the chapter speculates about ways in which the perceptual accuracy of politicians may be enhanced; it argues that politicians’ information environment should be fixed somehow. |
