Citizen opinion and constitutional choices: The case of the UK

In recent years, political scientists have begun to pay greater attention t o political institutions and questions of institutional change. This articl e addresses a question that has been relatively ignored in the literature: What shapes mass opinion toward institutional and constitutional change? We develop two broad kinds of explanations of how voters see institutions. On e is grounded in a conception of voters as self-interested actors, and the other considers a more ideological and psychological approach, We find empi rical evidence consistent with both arguments. Using a broad categorization developed by Tsebelis (1990), we find that part of the answer to how voter s see institutions lies in;he kinds of institutions voters are being asked about: Different institutions prompt very different responses from differen t types of voters.