How Public Opinion Information Changes Politicians’ Opinions and Behavior

Abstract

Numerous representation studies suggest that political elites are responsive to the expressed preferences of their voters, but scholars in the field have called for experimental research on the topic to shed light on the underlying mechanisms. This paper responds to this call. Results from a survey experiment with members of parliament in Belgium show, for the first time, that an important mechanism driving responsiveness is opinion adaptation by political elites. Just like ‘ordinary’ citizens adapt their opinions when learning where their preferred party stands on an issue, politicians update their position when learning that it opposes the preferences of a majority of their electorate. This implies that elite responsiveness involves less discord between politicians’ own preferences and voter preferences than is often assumed.