The Narrative of Policy Change: Effects on Policy Preferences, Political Efficacy, and Collective Action

• In Event: Civic Engagement

Abstract

Policy progress often advances incrementally. Intermediate gains could mobilize citizens by building political-efficacy beliefs—perceived government responsiveness to citizen demands—but could also deflate demand for additional policy. We run a randomized experiment in the six months following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is the most substantial climate policy in US history but was projected to accomplish only a portion of the US emissions cuts committed under the Paris Climate Agreement. We ask two questions. First, how do intermediate political wins affect support and advocacy for future waves of political progress? Second, how can advocacy groups use moments of political progress to mobilize collective action for continuing change? Our pre-registered experiment (N = 6,000) tests how two treatments—(1) learning about the real-world policy progress of the IRA and (2) pairing this information with a narrative backstory emphasizing the role of citizen advocacy in policy progress—affect desire for additional climate policy, political-efficacy beliefs, and real-stakes climate action relative to a pure control. Learning about the IRA slightly increases political-efficacy beliefs, but reduces demand for additional climate policy and has no effect on climate advocacy. In contrast, combining this information with a fictional narrative linking policy progress to citizen action increases political-efficacy beliefs, policy demand, information-gathering about climate marches, and lobbying donations. These findings highlight the power of storytelling to reinterpret policy change and mobilize collective action.

Author

• Lucy Page, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author