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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Trust, Self-Interest, And Representation In Economic Policymaking: Rhode Island Reconsidered, Thomas J. Anton, Darrell M. West
Trust, Self-Interest, And Representation In Economic Policymaking: Rhode Island Reconsidered, Thomas J. Anton, Darrell M. West
New England Journal of Public Policy
Industrial policy has become an increasingly central focus of political debate as American society struggles with new and troubling economic realities. Yet despite the importance of this subject, little is known about how the public gains or processes information on these matters, or about the evaluative standards used to judge industrial-policy proposals. A recent referendum in Rhode Island offered a unique opportunity to study these questions. Citizens participated directly in the debate over new industrial policy by soundly rejecting the Greenhouse Compact, a novel and comprehensive plan to "reindustrialize" Rhode Island. Here we report the results of a public opinion …
Rhode Island: The Defeat Of The Greenhouse Compact, Ira Magaziner
Rhode Island: The Defeat Of The Greenhouse Compact, Ira Magaziner
New England Journal of Public Policy
Rhode Island has not shared equally in New England's economic resurgence of recent years. A major reevaluation of the state's economic malaise in 1982-84 resulted in a $250 million program called the Greenhouse Compact to improve business in the state. Initially supported in polls by a two-to-one margin, the Compact was defeated overwhelmingly when it went to a statewide referendum. The timing of the referendum and mistakes in the public relations strategy and in the structure of the Compact all played a role in the outcome, but post-election polls showed that defeat, based on a massive shift of undecided voters, …