How are expectations of government performance developed and why do they matter? The literature on government expectations typically focuses on expectations of candidate behavior even though scholarship on policy feedback suggests that policy influences how and which constituents participate in the political system. I argue that these bodies of scholarship have failed to acknowledge the relevancy of citizens expectations of government performance—in this case, how well government provides the services that citizens expect from it. In a series of three essays, I explore how experience and identity influence expectations of policy outcomes, and finally how expectations impact political participation.
Read
