Getting
What They Asked For: Public Opinion and the Creation of Michigan’s
Rail Freight Program
– Working Paper 2004
Studies of US industrial policy tend to be
highly critical of the role of public opinion in encouraging the
creation of policies that support an unsustainable status quo instead
of making changes necessary to create a sustainable economic model.
In contrast, this paper examines a case where public opinion was
instrumental in creating a sustainable government program. Specifically,
it examines public opposition to the recommendations of a federal
program for restructuring Midwest and Northeast railroads in the
early 1970s, and the influence of public opinion on the creation
of Michigan’s program to preserve railroad freight service. Special
attention is given to the manner in which stakeholders articulated
the importance of rail service and the role government should take
to protect it.
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