> > Related to this is the question of whether there really is a median voter. > > Let's take 10 issues--abortion, gun control, gay rights, trade policy, tax > > rates, immigration, middle east policy, racial preferences, CO2/"global > > warming" policy, and SDI/"star wars" missile defense. What percentage of > > the electorate is in the middle quintile (if we could quantify these issues) > > on all 10? > > The General Social Survey is online and has a lot of information on > public opinion, though not all of these exact topics. At least on a > crude measure of "do you want more/less/the same" level of spending or > regulation, the median position is usually "the same." > Prof. Bryan Caplan
Is this an artifact of the survey? Would people say the same just because they don't care or don't know about an issue? In general, I'm a firm believer in the GSS, but I've always been skeptical about this kind of question. Seems like a good case of leading the respondents. Fabio
