Pockets of responsibility in the American electorate: Findings of a research program on attitude importance

Abstract

One view of American citizens suggests that attitudes about government policies play little role in shaping people's political behavior. The article summarizes a program of research suggesting that such a view is incorrect. For each citizen, a few personally important policy attitudes tend to have substantial impact on political thinking and behavior. Attitude importance is defined, and its distribution among citizens is noted. Various effects of attitude importance and the reasons why people come to perceive certain policy attitudes as personally important are then discussed. Finally, implications that the research may have for other political phenomena, such as alienation and the meanings of elections, are identified.