[An analysis of "silence" in public opinion about public works]

An Internet survey targeting at from 200 to 500 samples in every prefecture in Japan (n=15,316) was conducted in order to analyze the expression of attitudes or silence regarding public works. The data indicated those who had different attitudes from the perceived public attitude were likely to express their attitudes, those whose attitude was neutral were not likely to express it, and those with positive attitudes were likely to express more than those with negative attitudes. The tendency that those with positive attitudes were more likely to express them than those with negative attitudes decreased as the residential population increased. Those with positive attitudes in Tokyo kept "silence" regarding their attitudes, similar to those with neutral attitudes. Analysis regarding the attitudes in different prefectures indicated that attitudes toward public works were positively related to the yearly public stake in the prefecture.