[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-172532-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":80,"doc-detail-172532-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","weeding-out-public-opinion-a-study-of-marijuana","Weeding Out Public Opinion: A Study of Marijuana","","Analyzes how public opinion polling on marijuana legalization evolved and why it failed to translate into federal policy responsiveness. Contrasts generational attitudes with long-term trends in legalization-favoring survey results while questioning the unanswered issue of government action versus majority preference. Uses political science research by Paul Burstein to test claims about public opinion’s influence, including later findings that original responsiveness estimates were too high due to sampling bias and missing polling data for less salient issues.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/","Template",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/","General",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/weeding-out-public-opinion-a-study-of-marijuana/172532/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/weeding-out-public-opinion-a-study-of-marijuana/172532.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mia  ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document","2026-09-30","2026-09-01",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":30},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"How does the paper describe changes in public opinion toward marijuana over time?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"It argues that survey results favoring legalization have steadily increased over decades, making legalization seem like a future certainty rather than a question of if.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What central question does the paper raise about public opinion and policy?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It asks what happens when most Americans favor legalization—whether the federal government continues its drug policy or aligns with public opinion.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"Why does the paper say earlier estimates of government responsiveness may be overstated?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It explains that Burstein identifies sampling bias: polling focuses on salient issues, leaving less salient issues without data, which makes it harder to compare public preferences to enacted policy.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},172532,1789961876,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,88,93,98,103,108,113,118,123],{"id":84,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},11,"Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":89,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":94,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":99,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":104,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":109,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":114,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":119,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":124,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":125},158,"general-158",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":127},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":128,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":22,"category_id":124,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":30,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":140,"read_time":141},687207024478,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Weeding Out Public Opinion: A Study of Marijuana\nBrian Harney\nIllinois State University\nDepartment of Politics and Government\nShamira Gelbman\nApril 1, 2011\n\u000f\nThe divide between Generations X/Y and the Baby Boom Generation is growing on issue of marijuana. The younger generation seems to be more tolerant of cannabis than their parents. In the past forty years we have seen a steady increase in Public Opinion data favoring legalization; and now it is not a question of if but when it will be legalized. Recent studies by Gallup and other polling firms verify these findings, but the real questions seem to remain unanswered: What is going to happen when the majority of Americans favor legalization of marijuana? Will the Federal government continue to pursue its current drug policy on marijuana or adhere to public opinion? Based on the outcomes of these questions, I look to further the research done by the political science community over the past forty-years on government responsiveness to the public. Using research from Paul Burstein, which speculates on the impact of public opinion on public policy, I hope to provide additional evidence that our democratic institutions are less responsive to public opinion than we had previously thought using the issue of marijuana. Looking at polling data from the 1970s to present day, this paper outlines (1) how public opinion polling trends on marijuana have failed to shape public policy, (2) what implications previous research can tell us about why this issue has received low government responsiveness, and (3) how major drug policies under the Federal government have created controversy within local and State politics. From this analysis we can draw conclusions about what will happen to marijuana in the near future.\nPublic opinion polling as we know it today, dates back to the 1930s, its increasing popularity among politicians, news organizations and political interest groups have shown its effectiveness and accuracy. Early pioneers of polling like George Gallup envisioned a day where public opinion would actually play a part in political outcomes. And although Gallup’s dream has come to fruition, academic researchers in recent decades have begun to question how much of a role public opinion actually plays in public policy making. A number of political scientists including Jeff Manza believe research and theory about the impact of public opinion on policymaking since the 1930s have produced decidedly mixed views (Manza, 2002). Among these mixed views is the belief that social, political, and technological changes have influenced how much affect public opinion has on policymaking.\nIn an article written by Paul Burstein titled, The Impact of Public Opinion on Public Policy he addresses this very question, how much impact does public opinion have on public policy? The author begins by providing a number of statements that are universally accepted within the political science community, “(1) Public opinion influences public policy; (2) the more salient an issue to the public, the stronger the relationship is likely to be; and (3) the relationship is threatened by the power of interest organizations, political parties, and economic elites.”(Burstein, 2003) From this study and additional research within his article, he ultimately concludes that public opinion does indeed have a significant impact on public policy, three-quarters of the times its impacted is gauged. Using this article we might infer our democratic processes appear to be working quite well, because more times than not, the government acts in accordance with public preference. However we will see three years later, the same author strike down his original estimation. The significance of this article provides the criteria for gauging whether policy change should occur or not. Using universally accepted claims and applying them to the issue of marijuana will give us the ground work to understand why opinion has not changed policy on canna","cbCaiasQ30Jro0io","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiasQ30Jro0io","docx",78688,37,"English","# Introduction\n## Generational divide and legalization trends\n# Public opinion polling foundations\n## Gallup and early expectations\n## Mixed academic views\n# Burstein’s framework\n## Claimed relationship between opinion and policy\n## Revising estimates in later research\n# Measuring responsiveness with congressional bills","[{\"question\":\"How does the paper describe changes in public opinion toward marijuana over time?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that survey results favoring legalization have steadily increased over decades, making legalization seem like a future certainty rather than a question of if.\"},{\"question\":\"What central question does the paper raise about public opinion and policy?\",\"answer\":\"It asks what happens when most Americans favor legalization—whether the federal government continues its drug policy or aligns with public opinion.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper say earlier estimates of government responsiveness may be overstated?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that Burstein identifies sampling bias: polling focuses on salient issues, leaving less salient issues without data, which makes it harder to compare public preferences to enacted policy.\"}]","Weeding Out Public Opinion: A Study of Marijuana | DOCX",1788294271,13]