[수당 해외학자 초청 콜로키움 #21] On Legislative Persuasion: Changing Positions and Changing Minds among Legislators

• 발표 : Adam Zelizer (University of Chicago)
• 제목 : On Legislative Persuasion: Changing Positions and Changing Minds among Legislators
• 일시 : 2023.05.12(금)ㅣ10:00-11:15
• 장소 : 온라인 Zoom
• 회의 ID : 810 4318 7003
• 비밀번호 : KUpol1905!

Abstract: Legislators are thought to take predictable positions on bills based on stable personal ideologies. But in the past decade, experiments have shown that information about policy content, expert opinion, and constituent preferences changes legislators’ support for legislation. We revisit four such studies to examine the credibility of, and mechanisms behind, these apparent influences on legislators’ policy positions. Are legislators’ positions really so mutable as to be changed by these interventions? Are legislators changing their minds about policy, or just their positions? In short, are legislators persuadable? We use experimental and ethnographic evidence to analyze the persistence, scope, and heterogeneity of legislative influence. We conclude that legislators’ policy reversals are robust and long-lasting. Legislative influence more resembles a process of learning about policy details or reconciling conflicting interests than one of deeply-held attitude change or conscious pandering. Our findings have implications for understanding legislators’ voting decisions and how outside interests influence the legislative process.