Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-28T05:02:11.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Extra, Extra, (Don't) Roll-off about It! Newspaper Endorsements for Ballot Measures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Kevin Fahey ,
Carol S. Weissert  and
Matthew J. Uttermark
Kevin Fahey
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Carol S. Weissert*
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Matthew J. Uttermark
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
*
Carol S. Weissert, Florida State University, 600 W. Call Ave, Tallahasssee, FL 32306, USA. Email: cweissert@fsu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Voters often have difficulty making choices on the myriad state constitutional amendments they vote on each year. Without partisan cues, they turn to other sources for these low-salience, high complexity measures. One such source is newspaper endorsements. In this article, we look at newspaper endorsements of ballot measures in Florida over 20 years both on “no” votes and roll-off. We argue that endorsements' effect on “no” votes and roll-off differs in ways not previously appreciated. Newspaper endorsements have a positive impact on no votes, as expected from the information theory of voter participation. Endorsements have little impact on roll-off, which we posit is because roll-off voters are not likely to seek information from newspapers. Thus, newspaper endorsements serve to persuade, but not entice, voters to vote for ballot measures.

Keywords

electionspolitical behaviordirect democracystate constitutionsvoting behaviorpolitical participationballot measuresnewspaper endorsements
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 93 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ansolabehere, Stephen, Behr, Roy, and Iyengar, Shanto. 1993. Media Game: American Politics in the Television Age. New York: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Barabas, Jason, and Jerit, Jennifer. 2009. “Estimating the Causal Effects of Media Coverage on Policy-Specific Knowledge.” American Journal of Political Science 53:73–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barthel, Michael. 2016. State of the News Media 2016. Newspapers: Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.Google Scholar
Berelson, Bernard, Lazarfeld, Paul, and McPhee, William. 1954. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Biggers, Daniel R. 2011. “When Ballot Issues Matter: Social Issues Ballot Measures and Their Impact on Turnout.” Political Behavior 33 (1): 3–25..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 1994. “Information and Opinion Change on Ballot Propositions.” Political Behavior 16 (4): 411–35..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 1998. Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting and Direct Democracy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, Ann O'M., and Kearney, Richard C.. 2017. State and Local Government (10th ed). Boston: Cengage.Google Scholar
Burnett, Craig M., and Parry, Janine A.. 2014. “Gubernatorial Endorsements and Ballot Measure Approval.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 14:178–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Michah. 2012. “The Political Geography of Florida.” FiveThirtyEight. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-political-geography-of-florida/ (accessed February 1, 2018).Google Scholar
Cronin, Thomas E. 1989. Direct Democracy: The Politics of Initiative, Referendum and Recall. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalton, Russell J., Beck, Paul A., and Huckfeldt, Robert. 1998. “Partisan Cues and the Media: Information Flows in the 1992 Presidential Election.” American Political Science Review 92:111–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damore, David F., and Nicholson, Stephen P.. 2014. “Mobilizing Interests: Group Participation and Competition in Direct Democracy Elections.” Political Behavior 36:535–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Druckman, James N., and Kam, Cindy D.. 2011. “Students as Experimental Participants: A Defense of the ‘Narrow Data Base‘”. In Handbook of Experimental Political Science, eds. Druckman, James N., Green, Donald P., Kuklinski, James H., and Lupia, Arthur. New York: Cambridge University Press, 41–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, Robert S. 1976. “The Influence of Newspaper Endorsements in Presidential Elections: The Case of 1964.” American Journal of Political Science 20:207–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, Elisabeth. 1999. The Populist Paradox: Interest Group Influence and the Promise of Direct Legislation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Greene, William H. 2003. Econometric analysis. Chicago: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Gregg, James E. 1965. “Newspaper Editorial Endorsements and California Elections, 1948–1962.” Journalism Quarterly 42:532–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajnal, Zoltan L., Gerber, Elisabeth R., and Louch, Hugh. 2002. “Minorities and Direct Legislation: Evidence from California Ballot Proposition Elections.” The Journal of Politics 64 (1): 154–77..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, Kevin A., MacManus, Susan, and Marenco, D.. 2004. Florida's Politics: Ten Media Markets, One Powerful State. Tallahassee: Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University.Google Scholar
Huber, John D., and Shipan, Charles R.. 2002. Deliberate Discretion? The Institutional Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyengar, Shanto, and Kinder, Donald R.. 1987. News That Matters: Agenda Setting and Priming in a Television Age. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Jerit, Jennifer, Barabas, Jason, and Bolsen, Toby. 2006. “Citizens, Knowledge, and the Information Environment.” American Journal of Political Science 50:266–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, Jeffrey. 1998. “The Influence of Elite Endorsements in Initiative Campaigns.” In Citizens as Legislators: Direct Democracy in the United States, eds. Bowler, Shaun, Donovan, Todd, and Tolbert, Caroline. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 149–65.Google Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter. 2005. Direct Democratic Choice: The Swiss Experience. Lanham: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Larcinesea, Valentino, Puglisi, Riccardo, and Snyder, James M.. 2011. “Partisan Bias in Economic News: Evidence on the Agenda-Setting Behavior of U.S. Newspapers.” Journal of Public Economics 95 (9–10): 1178–89.Google Scholar
Lodge, Milton, Steenbergen, Marco, and Brau, Shawn. 1995. “The Responsive Voter: Campaign Information and the Dynamics of Candidate Evaluation.” American Political Science Review 89:309–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 1994. “Shortcuts versus Encyclopedias: Information and Voting Behavior in California Insurance Reform Elections.” American Political Science Review 88:63–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupia, Arthur, and Matsusaka, John G.. 2004. “Direct Democracy: New Approaches to Old Questions.” Annual Review of Political Science 7:463–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupia, Arthur, and McCubbins, Mathew. 1998. The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
MacManus, Susan A. 2004. “Florida Overview: Ten Media Markets—One Powerful State.” In Florida's Politics: Ten Media Markets, One Powerful State, eds. Hill, Kevin A., MacManus, Susan, and Mareno, Drio. Tallahassee: Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University, 1–64.Google Scholar
Magleby, David B. 1984. “The Initiative and Referendum.” Legislative Policy January–February, 33–36.Google Scholar
McCombs, Maxwell. 1967. “Editorial Endorsements: A Study of Influence.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 44:545–48.Google Scholar
McCombs, Maxwell, and Shaw, Donald. 1972. “The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly 36:176–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsusaka, John G. 1995. “Explaining Voter Turnout Patterns: An Information Theory.” Public Choice 84:91–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, Amy, Gottfired, Jeffrey, Barthel, Michael, and Shearer, Elisa. 2016. The Modern News Consumer: News Attitudes and Practices in the Digital Era. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.Google Scholar
Nicholson, Stephen P. 2003. “The Political Environment and Ballot Proposition Awareness.” American Journal of Political Science 47:403–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, Tim. 2004. “What's the Point? Few Voters Are Swayed by Newspaper Endorsements of Presidential Candidates. So Why Do Editorial Pages Keep Publishing Them?” American Journalism Review 26:58–63.Google Scholar
Reilly, Shauna, and Richey, Sean. 2011. “Ballot Readability and Roll-off: The Impact of Language Complexity.” Political Research Quarterly 64 (1): 59–67..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saad, Lydia. 2016. “Americans' Confidence in Newspapers at New Low.” Gallup Poll, June 13. http://www.gallup.com/poll/192665/americans-confidence-newspapers-new-low.aspx.Google Scholar
Schlozman, Daniel, and Yohai, Ian. 2008. “How Initiatives Don't Always Make Citizens: Ballot Initiatives in the American States, 1978–2004.” Political Behavior 30:469–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seib, Peter. 2008. “Supersized Votes: Ballot Length, Uncertainty, and Choice in Direct Legislation Elections.” Public Choice 135:319–36.Google Scholar
Smith, Daniel, and Tolbert, Caroline. 2001. “The Initiative to Party: Partisanship and Ballot Initiatives in California.” Party Politics 7 (6): 739–57..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Mark A. 2001. “The Contingent Effects of Ballot Initiative and Candidate Races on Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science 45:700–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sniderman, Paul, Brody, Richard, and Tetlock, Phillip. 1991. Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stratmann, Thomas. 2006. “Is Spending More Potent for or against a Proposition? Evidence from Ballot Measures.” American Journal of Political Science 50:788–801.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wattenberg, Martin P., McAllister, Ian, and Salvanto, Anthony. 2000. “How Voting Is like Taking an SAT Test: An Analysis of American Voter Rolloff.” American Politic Research 28:234–50.Google Scholar
Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Public Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaller, John. 1996. “The Myth of Massive Media Impact Revived: New Support for a Discredited Idea.” In Political Persuasion and Attitude Change, eds. Mutz, Diane, Sniderman, Paul, and Brody, Richard. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 17–79.Google Scholar
Zellner, Arnold. 1962. “An Efficient Method of Estimating Seemingly Unrelated Regressions and Tests for Aggregation Bias.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 57 (298): 348–68..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Fahey et al. supplementary material

Appendix

Download Fahey et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 315.8 KB