Policy design receptivity and target populations: A social construction framework approach to climate change policy

Abstract

The public-elite policy feedback mechanism of the Social

Construction Framework (SCF) postulates that the public

rewards policymakers for the appropriate distribution of benefits

and burdens to target populations. In this article we test a key

part of this dynamic by examining public receptivity to policy

design features as a function of target population choice. We

conduct a national survey experiment of approximately 3350

Americans. Our instrument asks respondents to indicate support

or opposition to a range of policy tools in a suite of six climate

change policies, but varies who would be responsible for options

based upon Schneider and Ingram's idealized types. Our

research design tests the independent effects of deservingness and

power foundational to the construction of target populations in

the SCF. We find, in general, deservingness to be a stronger predictor

of support for policy tools than notions of power. We also

identify situations where deservingness acts independently of

power in ways not anticipated by the SCF—notably public favor

for burdens on powerful groups. Our findings offer implications

for theoretical and empirical development of the SCF regarding

the influence of policymakers' perceptions of public acceptance

of policy design in crafting public policies.