“<i>Tuning Them in, Tuning Them out</i>”—Who Do Government Officials Listen to in Citizen Efforts to Shape Policy? Evidence from Local Public Meetings in U.S. Midwestern Cities

Abstract

Citizens in the United States participate in public meetings with government officials to engage in the policy-making process and hence shape the creation of legislation at various levels of government. While scholars have discussed and even theorized about the importance of communication in public meetings, there continues to be a lack of empirical research concerning how race potentially affects the way public officials engage with constituents in these meetings. This article remedies the neglect by considering the impact of racial identities on the propensity of local public officials to listen to and understand what constituents say in face-to-face interactions with public officials. Using data collected from observations of local council meetings in four midwestern cities in the United States, interviews with city council members, and independent assessments of listening, the author finds limited support for the expectation that race affects how local officials listen to and comprehend messages from their constituents. Overall, how officials listen to and attribute meaning to the concerns expressed in public meetings has implications for constituent participation in the policy-making process.