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Policy Feedback in an Age of Polarization

Author

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  • Jacob S. Hacker
  • Paul Pierson

Abstract

A large body of research has explored how policies, once enacted, reshape public opinion, governing institutions, and political organizations—a process known as “policy feedback.†Yet this productive research agenda has yet to be translated into practical recommendations of the sort regularly provided by other social science research. This volume of The ANNALS presents the findings of a major collective effort to do just this. The Policy Feedback Project (PFP) is an effort to develop research-backed arguments about how policy feedback might be harnessed to address collective problems in today’s age of partisan polarization and economic inequality. This article orients readers to our collective approach and summarizes some of the contributing authors’ findings. In particular, we show how the feedback effects of policies could be used to (1) tackle long-standing public problems that have resisted effective responses, (2) increase the long-term durability of policy initiatives designed to address these problems, and (3) build political momentum and power to facilitate the adaptation and expansion of these initiatives over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson, 2019. "Policy Feedback in an Age of Polarization," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 685(1), pages 8-28, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:685:y:2019:i:1:p:8-28
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716219871222
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Campbell, Andrea Louise, 2002. "Self-Interest, Social Security, and the Distinctive Participation Patterns of Senior Citizens," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 96(3), pages 565-574, September.
    2. Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson, 2010. "Winner-Take-All Politics and Political Science: A Response," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(2), pages 266-282, June.
    3. Lerman, Amy E. & Sadin, Meredith L. & Trachtman, Samuel, 2017. "Policy Uptake as Political Behavior: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 111(4), pages 755-770, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vesla M. Weaver & Amanda Geller, 2019. "De-Policing America’s Youth: Disrupting Criminal Justice Policy Feedbacks That Distort Power and Derail Prospects," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 685(1), pages 190-226, September.
    2. Yun, Hyunsoo & Lee, Eun Hak, 2025. "Party politics in transport policy with a large language model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 487-496.
    3. James Patterson & Ksenia Anisimova & Jasmin Logg-Scarvell & Cille Kaiser, 2025. "Reactions to policy action: socio-political conditions of backlash to climate change policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 58(2), pages 287-320, June.

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