Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T12:05:37.477Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public Attitudes toward the Policy Responsibilities of the National and State Governments: Evidence from South Carolina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Saundra K. Schneider  and
William G. Jacoby
Saundra K. Schneider
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
William G. Jacoby
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

How do Americans feel about the respective policy responsibilities of the national and state governments? This article addresses this question using data from a public opinion survey in South Carolina. The study has three major findings. First, people do seem to have meaningful opinions about national versus state government responsibilities, regardless of whether the issue is presented in policy-specific or general terms. Second, framing effects do not exist for these attitudes because the aggregate distributions of opinion do not change across the two presentations. Third, citizens' beliefs about specific programmatic activities appear to be derived largely from their more general comparative evaluations of the national and state governments. These findings have important implications for both scholarly theories of and practical political concerns about federalism in the United States.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 2003 , pp. 246 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association, 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anton, Thomas J. 1989. American Federalism and Public Policy: How the System Works. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, Linda L.M., and Bennett, Stephen Earl. 1990. Living with Leviathan: Americans Coming to Terms with Big Government. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Berry, William D., Ringquist, Evan J., Fording, Richard C., and Hanson, Russell L.. 1998. “Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American States, 1960-93.” American Journal of Political Science 42:327–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blendon, Robert J., Benson, John B., Morin, Richard, Altman, Drew E., Brodie, Mollyann, Brossard, Mario, and James, Matt. 1997. “Changing Attitudes in America.” In Why People Don't Trust Government, eds. Nye, Joseph S. Jr., Zelikow, Philip D., and King, David C.. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Brady, Henry, and Sniderman, Paul M.. 1985. “Attitude Attribution: A Group Basis for Political Reasoning.” American Political Science Review 79:1061–1078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, James E. 1997. “The Presidential Pulse and 1994 Midterm Congressional Election.” Journal of Politics 59:830–857.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cantril, Albert H., and Cantril, Susan Davis. 1999. Reading Mixed Signals: Ambivalence in American Public Opinion about Government. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Stimson, James. 1989. Issue Evolution: Race and the Transformation of American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Conlan, Timothy J. 1993. “Federal, State, or Local? Trends in the Public's Judgment.” The Public Perspective 4 (January/February):3–10.Google Scholar
Converse, Philip E. 1970. “Attitudes and Nonattitudes: Continuation of a Dialogue.” In The Quantitative Analysis of Social Problems, ed. Tufte, Edward R.. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
DeVellis, Robert F. 1991. Scale Development: Theory and Applications. Newbury Park, CA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Donahue, John D. 1999. The Devolution Revolution: Hazardous Crosscurrents Confronting Inequality in an Era of Devolution. New York: The Century Foundation Press.Google Scholar
Druckman, James N. 2001. “The Implications of Framing Effects for Citizen Competence.” Political Behavior 23 (3):225–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagly, Alice H., and Chaiken, Shelly. 1993. The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Elazar, Daniel. 1962. The American Partnership: Intergovernmental Co-operation in the Nineteenth-Century United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Elder, Charles D., and Cobb, Roger W.. 1983. The Political Uses of Symbols. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Fishbein, Martin, and Ajzen, Icek. 1975. Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Free, Lloyd A., and Cantril, Hadley. 1967. The Political Beliefs of Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Gingrich, Newt. 1995. To Renew America. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Grodzins, Morton. 1960. “The Federal System.” In Goals for Americans: The Report of the President's Commission on National Goals, The American Assembly. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Gujarati, Damodar N. 1995. Basic Econometrics. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Hanson, Russell L. 1998. “The Interaction of State and Local Governments.” In Governing Partners: State-Local Relations in the United States, ed. Hanson, Russell L.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Harris, Richard A. 1997. “The Era of Big Government Lives.” Polity 30:187–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, Marc J., and Nugent, John D.. 2001. “Explaining Public Support for Devolution: The Role of Political Trust.” In What Is It About Government That Americans Dislike? eds. Hibbing, John R. and Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hibbing, John, and Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. 1995. Congress as Public Enemy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, Larry B. 1992. “Taking Bureaucracy Seriously.” In The State of Public Bureaucracy, ed. Hill, Larry B.. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.Google Scholar
Iyengar, Shanto. 1991. Is Anyone Responsible? How Television Frames Political Issues. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, William G. 1988. “The Impact of Party Identification on Issue Attitudes.” American Journal of Political Science 32:643–661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, William G. 1994. “Public Attitudes Toward Government Spending.” American Journal of Political Science 38:336–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, William G. 1995. “The Structure of Ideological Thinking in the American Electorate.” American Journal of Political Science 39:314–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, William G. 2000. “Issue Framing and Public Opinion on Government Spending.” American Journal of Political Science 44:750–767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, M. Kent, and Zeigler, Harmon. 1970. “The Salience of American State Politics.” American Political Science Review 64:523–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Sanders, Lynn M.. 1990. “Mimicking Political Debate with Survey Questions: The Case of White Opinion on Affirmative Action for Blacks.” Social Cognition 8:73–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lock, Shmuel T., Shapiro, Robert Y., and Jacobs, Lawrence R.. 1999. “The Impact of Public Debate on Government Trust: Reminding the Public What the Federal Government Does.” Political Behavior 21:239–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maggiotto, Michael A. 1988. “South Carolinians' Political Attitudes.” In Government in the Palmetto State: Perspectives and Issues, eds. Tyer, Charlie B. and Jane Massey, S.. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina.Google Scholar
Marcus, George E., Russell Neuman, W., and MacKuen, Michael. 2000. Affective Intelligence and Political Judgment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
McClosky, Herbert, and Zaller, John. 1984. The American Ethos. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nathan, Richard P. 1996. “The Role of the States in American Federalism.” In The State of the States, ed. Van Horn, Carl E.. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Nelson, Thomas E., and Kinder, Donald R.. 1996. “Issue Frames and Group-Centrism in American Public Opinion.” Journal of Politics 58:1055–1078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Thomas E., Oxley, Zoe M., and Clawson, Rosalee A.. 1997. “Toward a Psychology of Framing Effects.” Political Behavior 19:221–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nice, David C. 1998. “The Intergovernmental Setting of State-Local Relations.” In Governing Partners: State-Local Relations in the United States, ed. Hanson, Russell L.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Nicholson-Crotty, Sean, and Meier, Kenneth J.. 2002. “Size Doesn't Matter: In Defense of Single-State Studies.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 2:411–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Toole, Laurence J. Jr. 1993. “American Intergovernmental Relations: An Overview.” In American Intergovernmental Relations, ed. O'Toole, Laurence J. Jr. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Peterson, Paul E. 1995. The Price of Federalism. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Reeves, Mavis Mann. 1987. “Public Opinion and Federalism, 1986.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 17:55–65.Google Scholar
Riker, William H. 1975. “Federalism.” In Handbook of Political Science, Vol. 5 of Governmental Institutions and Processes, eds. Greenstein, Fred I. and Polsby, Nelson W.. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Ringquist, Evan J., and Garand, James C.. 1999. “Policy Change in the American States.” In American State and Local Politics: Directions for the 21st Century, eds. Weber, Ronald E. and Brace, Paul. New York: Chatham House.Google Scholar
Rivlin, Alice B. 1992. Reviving the American Dream: The Economy, the States, and the Federal Government. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roeder, Phillip W. 1994. Public Opinion and Policy Leadership in the American States. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.Google Scholar
Schattschneider, E.E. 1960. The Semi-Sovereign People. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.Google Scholar
Sears, David O. 2001. “The Role of Affect in Symbolic Politics.” In Citizens and Politics: Perspectives from Political Psychology, ed. Kuklinski, James H.. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sears, David O., and Citrin, Jack. 1985. Tax Revolt: Something for Nothing in California. Enlarged ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Sijtsma, Klaas, and Molenaar, Ivo. 2002. Introduction to Nonparametric Item Response Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Eric R.A.N. 1989. The Unchanging American Voter. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., Brody, Richard A., and Tetlock, Philip E.. 1991. Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Lyke, and Elling, Richard. 1999. “Let Them Eat Marblecake: The Preferences of Michigan Citizens for Devolution and Intergovernmental Service Provision.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 29:139–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uslaner, Eric M. 2001. “Is Washington Really the Problem?” In What Is It about Government That Americans Dislike?“ eds. Hibbing, John R. and Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Van Horn, Carl E. 1996. “The Quiet Revolution.” In The State of the States, ed. Van Horn, Carl E.. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, and Nie, Norman H.. 1972. Participation in America. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay Lehman, and Brady, Henry E.. 1995. Voice and Inequality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wright, Deil S. 1988. Understanding Intergovernmental Relations. Pacific Grove, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Zaller, John. 1992 The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zajonc, Robert B. 1980. “Feeling and Thinking: Preferences Need No Inferences.” American Psychologist 35:151–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar