Balancing Demands: The World Economy and the Composition of Policy Preferences

Researchers remain divided on the consequences of market integration. Some argue that openness increases pressures for social protection; others claim that liberalization constrains policy makers. These debates gloss over a key link between globalization and domestic politics: the preferences of the electorate. This article argues that exposure to flows of goods, services, and capital matters for policy attitudes. However, the extent to which signals from the world economy affect preferences depends on issue domain. Voters respond to signals from the world economy by demanding less in areas where constrained governments can no longer deliver but more where they still can. The implication is that while globalization has no consistent influence on general support for government action, it does matter for the composition of policy preferences. A range of data analyses supports these claims. Results shed new light on arguments about the effect of globalization on domestic politics.