Journal

Governance

Governance is a political science and public administration journal for the theoretical and practical discussion of executive politics, public policy, administration, and the organization of the state. Published in association with International Political Science Association's Research Committee on the Structure & Organization of Government (SOG), we emphasize an international approach to public policy and administration. All papers, regardless of empirical focus, should have wider theoretical, comparative, or practical significance.

Article

Youlang Zhang, Qiang Wang, Menghan Zhao. Negativity bias in welfare policy feedback effects on mass publics. Governance.Volume 36,Issue 4.p.1015-1043

Author

Youlang Zhang, Associate Professor, School of Public Administration and Policy, RUC

Abstract

Extant studies on policy feedback effects have examined how a welfare increase, rather than a decrease, might shape policy attitudes or political engagement. Nevertheless, exploring the effects of welfare decrease on the mass public is significant because of its increasingly crucial relevance to public policy practices worldwide. Using a unique longitudinal national panel survey dataset (2015–2017) related to China's Minimum Living Standard Guarantee Program, this study examines how welfare program benefits influence the policy perceptions and political participation of more than 10,000 economically disadvantaged respondents. A series of analyses showed that all else being equal, starting to receive program benefits in a year does not necessarily produce a positive effect on policy perceptions or on political participation. However, being deprived of program benefits in a year has a significantly negative effect on policy perceptions and political participation. These findings concur with the negativity bias proposed in the psychology literature and contribute to the understanding of the micro-level foundations of welfare policy feedback effects on the mass public.

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