William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

226 Chapter 6Chapter 6 || Public OpinionPublic Opinion

how best to fight terrorism and secure the United States from attack, how to increase

economic growth and reduce the unemployment rate, and what the government’s

role should be in providing health care and making sure that Americans have secure

retirements. In a very fundamental way, then, this list confirms that American

politicians are intimately connected to their constituents—the issues that politicians

debate and legislate on are the ones that many people care about.

The list of policy priorities also explains government inaction on some issues. For

example, only 46 percent of Americans see climate change as a top policy priority—and

gun control doesn’t even appear on the list. Thus, the fact that Congress has not legislated

on either of these issues in recent years is actually consistent with public opinion. For

better or worse, the average American has other priorities for government action.

Does Public Opinion Matter?

We can say with confidence that public opinion remains highly relevant in American

politics today. One key piece of evidence is the amount of time and effort politicians,

journalists, and political scientists spend trying to find out what Americans think.

Of course, it is easy to find examples like gun control in which policy has stayed the

same despite a majority supporting change. In other cases, such as the enactment of

Obamacare, new policies have been passed even though a majority preferred the status

FIGURE

6.7

The American

Public’s Policy

Priorities, 2018

Given this data on policy priorities,

what legislation would you expect

President Trump to propose during

the final two years of his term?

Source: Pew Research Center, “Economic

Issues Decline among Public’s Policy

Priorities,” http://www.people-press.org

(accessed 7/31/18).

Terrorism 73%

Education 71

Jobs 62

Economy 72

Health care costs 68

Budget deficit 48

Environment 62

Medicare 66

Reducing crime 56

Poor and needy 58

Military 46

Immigration 47

Social Security 67

Race relations 52

Influence of lobbyists 47

Transportation 49

Drug addiction 49

Climate change 46

Global trade 38

Public’s policy priorities for 2018

% rating each a top priority for Trump and Congress

Full_07_APT_64431_ch06_198-231.indd 226 16/11/18 1:38 PM