| Abstract [eng] |
,,The Impact of Public Opinion on Political Processes: An Analysis of Lithuanian Cases’’ – is a research of the impact of public opinion on political processes. The prevailing view in society is that citizens have no power over political decisions. The research shows that public opinion in Lithuania can have an impact on political processes. The object of the research is the influence of public opinion on political processes. The aim of the work is to identify the conditional factors required for the influence of public opinion on political processes at the legislative level. During the work all tasks achieved : to review the scientific literature and conceptualize the concepts of public opinion, to discuss the issues of the topic and to refine the definition of public opinion. To form a research methodology: to develop an analytical model of the impact of public opinion on the political agenda and to apply it to empirical research; identify the conditional factors required for the impact of public opinion on political processes at the legislative level. Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones' interpretation of public policy agenda formation through Punctuated Equilibrium Theory was chosen as the theoretical basis. This mechanism helps to explain how unforeseen events lead to changes in public policy on the political agenda. The study uses tracking of the Theory-Building Process-Tracing to identify a systematic and relatively simple mechanism to achieve the result in a limited case context. The paper analyzes two cases of Lithuania that have affected political processes. The first one is "Matuko tragedy" - highlighted the issue of the child rights protection system. The findings on the impact of public opinion in this case have been examined in the context of the illegal breeding scandal. A probable causal mechanism has been constructed that identifies conditional factors that contribute to public opinion on political processes: change is initiated by unforeseen events; the media writes about the event; the question is new; the problem must be relevant to society; public opinion on the problem is stable; an important role for leadership. As many social problems are associated with socially vulnerable groups in society, this is potentially applicable to a wider range of social problems. |
