Cambridge University Press Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics

Politics is a trial in which those in government - and those who aspire to serve - make proposals, debate alternatives, and pass laws. Then the jury of public opinion decides. It likes the proposals or actions or it does not. It trusts the actors or it does not. It moves, always at the margin, and then those who benefit from the movement are declared winners. This book is about that public opinion response. Its most basic premise is that although public opinion rarely matters in a democracy, public opinion change is the exception. Public opinion rarely matters because the public rarely cares enough to act on its concerns or preferences. Change happens only when the threshold of normal public inattention is crossed. When public opinion changes, governments rise or fall, elections are won or lost, and old realities give way to new demands. Review Review of previous edition: 'Stimson deftly interprets mathematical analysis of large quantities of public answers to survey questions. Highly recommended.' ChoiceReview of previous edition: 'This is excellent work by a scholar who is, by all measures, top in his field. Stimson writes about the single most important element in American politics: public opinion. He traces movement in public opinion over time and shows that it moves politics.' Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Ohio State UniversityReview of previous edition: 'The book is well written and a rare example of successful integration of state-of-the-art research and passing on knowledge to a wider audience … the book could be used as a benchmark for comparative research exploring the evolution in public opinion and the effects of campaigns and debates in other institutional settings … an excellent book, which deserves to be widely read.' Political Studies ReviewReview of previous edition: 'Tides of Consent is an ambitious attempt to integrate the findings of a half-century of public opinion research in an effort to draw convincing conclusions about the political implications and electoral consequences of public opinion. Too often public opinion is presented as filler, a spot on the evening news when nothing else is available. Rarely do we look at public opinion in its contemporary context, and almost never do we attempt to understand its significance over the long haul. In this book, Stimson offers us new insights into public preferences and understanding of the links between public preferences and public policy that are often lost in coverage of the daily news or the political campaign.' John McIver, University of Texas, AustinReview of previous edition: 'James Stimson has written a very important - and very readable - book. In a world of erratic sound bites, Stimson's analysis provides the underlying coherence of a symphony. Anyone who wishes to better understand the ebb and flow of American politics should read Tides of Consent.' Richard J. TofelReview of previous edition: 'Scholars and their students will find much to appreciate as well in this clearly written and engaging book, filled with interesting time series data and colorful examples about politicians and campaigns we all remember … Stimson believes that the most important thing in American politics is public opinion but says we have only 'scratched the surface' in understanding opinion movement His work has done much more than scratch the surface, and in Tides of Consent, he accomplishes his goal of making his research accessible to a broader audience than he has reached before.' Fay Lomax Cook, Political Science QuarterlyReview of previous edition: 'Tides of Consent is an excellent work. This book could be used as a textbook in an undergraduate course on public opinion, and it also makes a very good starting point for a graduate seminar on the same topic. Finally, it is simply interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable reading material that I would recommend to any political scientist.' Perspectives on PoliticsReview of previous edition