Public Opinion and Government Assistance: The Influence of Self-Interest on Political Attitudes.

Amidst the ongoing research interest and inquiry into the sources of public opinion, especially concerning attitudes involving public policies, government trust, and political values. One particular recurrent debate in this area involves whether symbolic values or self-interest undergird, as a predominant source in, the development and expression of political attitudes. This work is a replication and extension, or more precisely re-application, of a work by Schneider and Jacoby (2003), including the same data and estimating techniques they employ, but using a “self-interest—public opinion” theoretical framework. This paper examines the relationship between self-interest, as conceptualized via the receipt of government assistance, and public opinion, as measured via attitudes toward various political and policy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]