The Politics of Persuasion: Testing the Power of Local Elites
Among the variables of most interest, only opposition by elected officials had a significant influence on the success of a ballot measure: opposition by minority leaders, citizen groups, and established groups had no significant affect on the fate of the ballot measures. I conclude that business groups can successfully shepherd pro-business proposals through the plebiscite arena, but only when substantial opposition by elected officials is absent. Voters appear to be significantly swayed to reject ballot measures when even a few elected officials express opposition to the proposal.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign