Mixed Signals? How Policy Conflict Shapes Mass Environmental Beliefs

• In Event: Poster Session: Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics & Health Politics and Health Policy
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics

Abstract

A substantial literature in political science suggests that individuals policy preferences can be shaped by the actions of elite actors and the policies they emphasise and implement. Yet can these actions and interactions have second order effects and actually affect individuals beliefs about the causes of the problems that policy seeks to address in the first place? This paper uses survey data from just before and after a policy conflict in New Delhi to identify the effect of policy conflict between the government and a judicial body upon individuals' beliefs about the causes of air pollution. The results find that the policy conflict caused mass beliefs about the causes of pollution to change. In line with theories of motivated reasoning, belief updating occurred led individuals who generally approve or disapprove of the government to believe vehicle usage was more and less responsible for air pollution respectively. The results suggest that policy conflict between political elites can not only affect mass preferences toward specific policies, but also alter beliefs about the cause of such societal problems seek to address.

Author

• Liam F. Beiser-McGrath, Royal Holloway, University of London