Processing Information from the Public

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter shows how the challenges of information volume and complexity are addressed through information processing, and develops a typology to understand the differences between distinct ways in which information can be processed. It shows how two dimensions characterizing policymakers’ desired information outputs—specificity and novelty—help us make sense of the different ways in which information from the public can be processed, and the varying requirements of that processing in terms of individual attention and domain-specific knowledge. The chapter reviews each of the resulting four types of information processing—aggregative, summarative, classificative, and generative—and illustrates them with examples drawn from a variety of settings around the world. It also shows how the same information inputs can be processed in different ways, the consequences of these choices for the costliness of information processing, and the potential for mismatch between the mode of processing employed and policymakers’ actual learning goals.</jats:p>