5 - Focus groups and perceptions of the Washington system

Summary

People want their political institutions and politicians to be efficient and equitable. They believe the Constitution set up a system that meets these demands, but they also believe politics as usual in the late twentieth century is mired in gridlock, the influence of special interests, and neglect of the American public. How do people's evaluations of the constitutional structure and politics as usual in Washington fit together in their minds? How do attitudes about the constitutional system and the Washington system color more specific evaluations of institutions and members? In this chapter we provide a model of how people envision the national government. We investigate in depth the public's thoughts about the two political systems (constitutional and Washington) and how attitudes toward different institutions and members fit together to help people make sense of politics.

To accomplish this task, we must move beyond our dependence on survey data and turn instead to our focus groups. A complete, holistic portrait of attitudes is impossible to elicit over the phone in thirty minutes, no matter how large the sample. The depth and richness of the public mood concerning the two political systems have the potential to be discerned only if people are allowed to expand on their thoughts beyond the constrained time frame and closed-ended questions characteristic of modern telephone polling procedures, and only if they are able to interact with fellow citizens in a setting more typical for the expression of these thoughts than an out-of-the-blue phone conversation with a stranger.