Fearing Food: The Influence of Risk Perceptions on Public Preferences for Uniform and Centralized Risk Regulation. Issue 2 (14th October 2018) - Maestas, Cherie
Abstract : Public opinion features prominently in policy research because it sets bounds on the definition of policy problems and acceptable policy solutions. We contend that public opinion is also important for setting bounds on the level of government at which policy hazards are regulated by shaping preferences for uniformity of regulation and, relatedly, preferences for centralization. We offer a theoretical argument for why risk creates pressures for uniform standards and examine the extent to which preferences for uniformity and centralization are the product of fairly stable individual‐level predispositions (e.g. partisanship and ideology) versus more fluid attitudes like perceptions of risk, which vary in response to crises, new information, and issue framing. We test our argument using survey data in the policy domain of food safety and find that individuals who anticipate greater risk from food‐borne illness prefer more uniform food safety regulation, which translates into preferences for federal‐level policymaking. Our results imply that contextual circumstances and strategic communications that influence risk perceptions can create not only generalized public demand for more regulatory policy but specific demand for uniform, centralized regulation. Abstract : 公众舆论在政策研究中地位突出，因为它界定了政策问题的定义以及可接受的政策解决方案。我们认为，公众舆论对于界定管理政策风险的政府层级也很重要，政策风险是通过塑造对于管理一致化和集权化的偏好来调控的。我们从理论上论证了为什么风险会给一致性标准带来压力；并且，我们还考察了对一致性和集权的偏好是来自于颇为稳定的个人倾向（如党派和意识形态），还是更加不固定的观点看法，比如对风险的认知，这种认知可因危机、新信息和问题构架而发生变化。我们应用食品安全政策领域的调查数据来检验我们的观点。我们发现，预计食源性疾病会带来更大风险的个人更加偏好于统一的食品安全监管，而这种偏好将相应地转化为联邦政策的制定偏好。我们的研究结果表示，影响风险认知的背景环境和策略沟通不仅可以带来公众对更多监管政策的普遍需求，而且可以带来对统一集中监管的具体要求。