If voters “support” a policy proposal in a poll, does that mean they think the government should enact that policy?
It sounds like a reasonable assumption. At the very least, it’s an assumption that’s been made by many public opinion researchers and political scientists. I’ve made it myself.
But “support” for a policy may not mean what it seems, based on this week’s New York Times/Siena poll of New York City. Many voters who tell a pollster they “support” a policy might not believe that the government “should” enact that very policy.
The poll asked two different questions about each of five policies proposed by the mayoral candidates. Half of the respondents were asked whether they “support or oppose” those policies; the other half were asked whether the city “should or should not do” the same five proposals.
In four of five cases, fewer people said the city “should” enact the proposal than said they “support” the same policy. In the most striking case, 60 percent of New Yorkers said they supported free city buses, but only 44 percent said the city “should” make buses free. A majority, 55 percent, said the city should not.
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The post New Yorkers Support Free Buses, but They Don’t Think It Should Happen appeared first on New York Times.
