Question

in what ways do you feel these institutions can consider taking people's opinion before making any policy decisions​

Answer 1

Answer:

Step 1: Identify the decision. You realize that you need to make a decision. ...

Step 2: Gather relevant information. ...

Step 3: Identify the alternatives. ...

Step 4: Weigh the evidence. ...

Step 5: Choose among alternatives. ...

Step 6: Take action. ...

Step 7: Review your decision & its consequences.

Explanation:

Basic assumptions of (normative) rational choice theory are that individuals have a coherent set of preferences, gather the necessary information to reach an informed decision, evaluate alternative actions, and choose actions that are optimally related to their beliefs and values. Such decisions are expected to further individuals' self-interest and are therefore deemed rational. However, the rational choice approach is confronted to a paradox, since research has amply shown that in practice political decision-making virtually never follows these principles. People lack consistency in their opinions, use information incorrectly, are overconfident in their own choices, fail to adapt existing evaluations in light of new information, draw unwarranted conclusions from insufficient data, and express prejudiced opinions. Moreover, political decision making, in particular voting, is only weakly related to actual self-interest. Nevertheless the amount of factual knowledge citizens possess does make a difference for the decision-making process (Delli Carpini and Keeter, 1996). High levels of knowledge are, for example, likely to increase the alignment of one's decision with one's beliefs and preferences. Yet, while many studies highlight low levels of political knowledge and lack of political sophistication of citizens, the actual implications of this general lack of knowledge remain debated.