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Balancing constituency and congruence: How constituency involvement affects positional congruence between organized interests and the general public.

ABSTRACT: This article asks to what extent and under which conditions interest groups are congruent with public opinion. We argue that interest groups can be caught in a balancing act between engaging with their constituency on the one hand and aligning their position with the broader public on the other hand. We contribute to previous studies by arguing that the effect of interest group type on congruence is moderated by the degree to which constituencies are involved in advocacy processes and the salience of policy issues. We test these expectations by analyzing 314 media claims made by Belgian interest groups regarding 58 policy issues. The results demonstrate that citizen groups with formal members are more prone to share the position of the broader public compared to concentrated interest groups such as business associations, especially if they involve their members in advocacy activities and when issues are salient in the media.

SUBMITTER: Willems E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7891402 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Balancing constituency and congruence: How constituency involvement affects positional congruence between organized interests and the general public.

Willems Evelien E De Bruycker Iskander I

Governance (Oxford, England) 20191226 1

This article asks to what extent and under which conditions interest groups are congruent with public opinion. We argue that interest groups can be caught in a balancing act between engaging with their constituency on the one hand and aligning their position with the broader public on the other hand. We contribute to previous studies by arguing that the effect of interest group type on congruence is moderated by the degree to which constituencies are involved in advocacy processes and the salien ...[more]

PMID: 33664554

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Project description:BackgroundNut consumption at the population level remains low despite the well-documented benefits of their consumption, including their cardioprotective effects. Studies have suggested that advice from health professionals may be a means to increase nut consumption levels. Understanding how nuts are perceived by the public and health professionals, along with understanding the public's perceptions of motivators of and deterrents to consuming nuts, may inform the development of initiatives to improve on these low levels of consumption. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare perceptions of nuts among three groups of health professionals (dietitians, general practioners, and practice nurses) and the general public in New Zealand (NZ), along with motivators of and deterrents to consuming nuts amongst the general public and their experiences of receiving advice around nut consumption.MethodsThe NZ electoral roll was used to identify dietitians, general practitioners (GPs), and practice nurses, based on their free-text occupation descriptions, who were then invited to complete a questionnaire with 318, 292, and 149 respondents respectively. 1,600 members of the general public were randomly selected from the roll with 710 respondents. Analyses were performed using chi-squared tests to look at differences in categorical variables and linear regression for differences in other variables between the four survey groups.ResultsAlthough there were significant differences between the four groups regarding the perceptions of nuts, in general there was agreement that nuts are healthy, high in protein and fat, are filling, and some nuts are high in selenium. We noted frequent agreement that the general public participants would consume more if nuts: improved health (67%), were more affordable (60%), or improved the nutrient content (59%) and balance of fats (58%) within their diets. Over half the respondents reported they would eat more nuts if they were advised to do so by a dietitian or doctor, despite less than 4% reporting they had received such advice. The most frequently selected deterrents to increasing nut consumption were: cost (67%), potential weight gain (66%), and leading to eating too much fat (63%).DiscussionIt is concerning that so few among the general public report receiving advice to consume more nuts from health professionals, especially given their apparent responsiveness to such advice. Health professionals could exploit the motivators of nut consumption, while also addressing the deterrents, to promote nut intake. These factors should also be addressed in public health messages to encourage regular nut consumption among the public. Educational initiatives could also be used to improve the nutritional knowledge of GPs and practice nurses with regard to nuts, although even dietitians were unsure of their knowledge in some cases.

Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding the experiences and expectations of women across the continuum of antenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care is important to assess the quality of maternal care and to determine problematic areas which could be improved. The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with maternal satisfaction with hospital-based perinatal care in Serbia.MethodsOur survey was conducted from January 2009 to January 2010 using a 28-item, self-administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of 50% of women who expected childbirths during the study period from all 76 public institutions with obstetric departments in Serbia. The following three composite outcome variables were constructed: satisfaction with technical and professional aspects of care; communication and interpersonal aspects of care; and environmental factors.ResultsWe analyzed 34,431 completed questionnaires (84.2% of the study sample). The highest and lowest average satisfaction scores (4.43 and 3.25, respectively) referred to the overall participation of midwives during delivery and the quality of food served in the hospital, respectively. Younger mothers and multiparas were less concerned with the environmental conditions (OR = 0.55, p = 0.006; OR = 1.82, p = 0.004). Final model indicated that mothers informed of patients' rights, pregnancy and delivery through the Maternal Counseling Service were more likely to be satisfied with all three outcome variables. The highest value of the Pearson's coefficient of correlation was between the overall satisfaction score and satisfaction with communication and interpersonal aspects of care.ConclusionsOur study illuminated the importance of interpersonal aspects of care and education for maternal satisfaction. Improvement of the environmental conditions in hospitals, the WHO program, Baby-friendly Hospital, and above all providing all pregnant women with antenatal education, are recommendations which would more strongly affect the perceptions of quality and satisfaction with perinatal care in Serbian public hospitals by women.

Dataset Information

Balancing constituency and congruence: How constituency involvement affects positional congruence between organized interests and the general public.

Publications

Balancing constituency and congruence: How constituency involvement affects positional congruence between organized interests and the general public.

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