Pathologies of Studying Public Opinion, Political Communication, and Democratic Responsiveness

• Published in: Political communication Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 467 - 492
• Main Author: Druckman, James N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Routledge 03.07.2014; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Democracy; Opinion formation; Pathology; Political communication; Political representation; Politics; Public opinion; Public opinion research; responsiveness

Research on democratic representation and public opinion formation has largely ignored one another. Once one considers the reality of the political communication environment, a fundamental tension between these two literatures emerges. In this essay, I review work on each, highlighting problems with...