Elections rather than public opinion determine the broad direction of government policy

Does UK public policy respond to changes in public preferences? If so, is this the result of the government adjusting its agenda, or of unpopular governments being voted out and replaced by those more in line with public opinion? New research by John Bartle, Sebastian Dellepiane-Avellaneda, and Anthony McGann finds that voters' signals broadly work to guide parties to deliver what the electorate want, but with a risk of over-correction and some ‘fuzzing’ due to ‘valence’ issues.