Agenda Setting and Political Representation

This project combines the study of agenda setting with the study of political representation. The basic idea is that an issue's place on the political agenda determines the impact of public opinion on public policy. In the project, this idea is explored statistically in a study of the relationship between voter opinions, the political agenda, and public spending decisions in the period from 1980 and onwards.

Publications

Mortensen, Peter B. (2006). The Impact of Public Opinion on Public Policy. A Study of Why, When, and How Agenda Setting Matters, Aarhus: Politica.

Mortensen, Peter B. (2009). “Political Attention and Public Spending in the U.S.”, Policy Studies Journal, 37, 3, 435-455.

Mortensen, Peter B. (2010), "Political Attention and Public Policy. A Stuyd of How Agenda Setting Matters" , Scandinavian Political Studies (forthcoming).