'Stimson is the premier scholar on the connection between public opinion and public policy on the national level in the US … This second edition is helpful because it updates numerous data series well past 2010. The conclusions are much the same, but the evidence is more robust. [His] writing style is approachable, entertaining, and at times downright humorous. This is a welcome update of a political science classic … Essential.' E. T. Jones, Choice
1. Opinion flows; 2. What the public wants of government; 3. Left and right movements in preference; 4. The great horse race; 5. Between the campaigns; 6. On politics at the margin.