THE CHAIN OF RESPONSIVENESS

"Democratic responsiveness" is what occurs when the democratic process induces the government to form and implement policies that the citizens want. It is a complex process, which begins with the policy preferences held by citizens, and moves link by causal link through such stages as voting, election outcomes, the formation of policy-making coalitions, the process of policy making between elections, and public policies themselves. Here, Powell provides an in-depth discussion on this topic.