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Elite-Mass Relations in Communist Systems pp 117–138Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Public Opinion and Public Policy

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Abstract

Public policy in communist states usually is regarded as detached from ‘public opinion’.1 This inference can be drawn from both the general neglect of public opinion in studies of communist systems and an occasional explicit reference to the futility of such an explanation for policy in such states:

As for such nondemocratic countries as the Soviet Union and East Germany, we can offer little empirical evidence to support the contention that public opinion acts as an important constraint on policy makers.2

In an authoritarian political system, where citizens’ participation activities are limited primarily to voting for a single party’s candidate, it is unlikely that many citizens will develop much confidence in themselves as able to influence national affairs. At the most, they will become ‘subject-participants,’ taking advantage of opportunities to contact bureaucrats, or informal ‘fixers,’ in order to shape governmental action as it affects their lives. Their citizenship roles are confined to the political output process.3

Where authors focus on the opinion-policy connection in the US, knowledge about public preferences in totalitarian systems is thought to provide an ‘excellent method’ for ‘monitoring and controlling popular dissatisfaction’.4

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Notes

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kentucky, USA

    Daniel N. Nelson (Professor of Political Science)

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  1. Daniel N. Nelson
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© 1988 Daniel N. Nelson

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Nelson, D.N. (1988). Public Opinion and Public Policy. In: Elite-Mass Relations in Communist Systems. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09104-1_8

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