Public Opinion, Legislative Production and Government Responsiveness

In parliamentary democracies, while designing and enacting public policies, the government potentially faces a trade-off between following its own policy preferences, or to address voters’ preferences, when they are not aligned. Nevertheless,there is a direct connection between the preferences of governments and citizens via public opinion. How does public opinion influence governments' legislative decision-making and its choice of legal instrument (type of law)? Despite the institutional dynamics within parliamentary democracies (majority type, political competition or institutional veto-players) we show that public opinion has a role in these decisions and finally impacts party responsiveness. We expect that more salient issues will be presented via the parliament, where the news coverage and the debate are publicized more heavily. This mobilizes public opinion and thereby constrains governments. When public opinion is less salient, issues will be legislated by Law Decree so that governments are more able to shape policies according to their liking. Looking at the Portuguese case, we shed light onto the mechanisms that direct the dynamic relationship between government preferences and voters’ preferences.