Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T14:44:14.357Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gubernatorial Endorsements and Ballot Measure Approval

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Craig M. Burnett  and
Janine A. Parry
Craig M. Burnett*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
Janine A. Parry
Affiliation:
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
*
Craig M. Burnett, Department of Public and International Affairs, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 S. College Road, CB# 5607, Wilmington, NC 28403-5607, USA. Email: burnettc@uncw.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Voters often make decisions on ballot measures with limited information. Research shows, however, that elite endorsements can help voters overcome their information deficiencies. Using survey experiments, we evaluate the effect of a gubernatorial endorsement on three recent ballot measures. We find that identifying the governor as a proponent of a particular measure has a significant effect on respondents' support for only one of the three ballot measures we examine: a highly publicized health initiative in 2000. For two lower profile referendums on bonds supporting higher education (in 2006) and roads (in 2011), a gubernatorial endorsement proved ineffective. These results hold even when we restrict our sample to respondents who are the most likely to be influenced by the treatment. As a result, we tentatively conclude that gubernatorial endorsements, while valuable to some voters, are highly conditional.

Keywords

direct democracyheuristicselite endorsementsgovernorinitiativereferendum
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 178 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014

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

Bartels, Larry M. 1996. “Uninformed Votes: Information Effects in Presidential Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 40:194–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boudreau, Cheryl. 2009. “Closing the Gap: When Do Cues Eliminate Differences between Sophisticated and Unsophisticated Citizens?” Journal of Politics 71:964–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 1994. “Information and Opinion Change on Ballot Propositions.” Political Behavior 16:411–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 1998. Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting, and Direct Democracy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratton, Regina P. 2003. “Examining Individual-Level on State Ballot Propositions.” Political Research Quarterly 56:366–77.Google Scholar
Burnett, Craig M. 2013. “Does Campaign Spending Help Voters Learn about Ballot Measures?” Electoral Studies 31:78–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnett, Craig M., Garrett, Elizabeth, and McCubbins, Mathew D.. 2010. “The Dilemma of Direct Democracy.” Election Law Journal: Rules Politics and Policy 9:305–24.Google Scholar
Burnett, Craig M., and McCubbins, Mathew D.. 2013. “Gaming Direct Democracy: How Voters' Views of Job Performance Interact with Elite Endorsements of Ballot Measures.” California Journal of Politics and Policy 5:627–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delli Carpini, Michael, and Keeter, Scott. 1996. What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957a. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957b. “An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy.” The Journal of Political Economy 65:135–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Druckman, James N. 2001. “Using Credible Advice to Overcome Framing Effects.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 17:62–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Druckman, James N., and Leeper, Thomas J.. 2012. “Learning More from Political Communication Experiments: Pretreatment and Its Effects.” American Journal of Political Science 56:875–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, Jeffrey A. 1995. “Explaining Public Support for Legislative Term Limits.” Public Opinion Quarterly 59:373–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, Jeffrey A. 1998. “The Influence of Elite Endorsements on Initiative Campaigns.” In Citizens as Legislators: Direct Democracy in the United States, eds. Bowler, Shaun, Donovan, Todd, and Tolbert, Caroline J.. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 149–65.Google Scholar
Kousser, Thad, and Phillips, Justin. 2012. The Power of American Governors. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuklinski, James H., Quirk, Paul J., Jerit, Jennifer, and Rich, Robert F.. 2001. “The Political Environment of Citizen Competence.” American Journal of Political Science 45:410–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, Richard R., and Redlawsk, David P.. 2001. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Cognitive Heuristics in Political Decision Making.” American Journal of Political Science 45:951–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewkowicz, Michael A. 2006. “The Effectiveness of Elite Cues as Heuristics on Proposition Elections.” American Politics Research 34:51–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, J.Scott, and Freese, Jeremy. 2005. Regression Models for Categorical Outcomes Using Stata. 2nd ed. College Station, TX: Stata Press.Google Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 1992. “Busy Voters, Agenda Control, and the Power of Information.” American Political Science Review 86:390–403.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 D.. 1998. The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Magleby, David. 1984. Direct Legislation: Voting on Ballot Propositions in the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
McDermott, Rose. 2002. “Experimental Methods in Political Science.” Annual Review of Political Science 5:31–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, David M., and Brown, Clyde. 2001. “Testing the Limits of Elite Influence on Public Opinion: An Examination of Sports Facility Referendums.” Political Research Quarterly 54:871–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, Alan. 1990. Governors and Legislatures: Contending Powers. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert. 1957. Models of Man: Social and Rational. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M., Brody, Richard A., and Tetlock, Phillip E.. 1991. Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, Chris, Reedy, Justin, Gastil, John, and Lee, Carolyn. 2009. “Information Distortion and Voting Choices: The Origins and Effects of Factual Beliefs in Initiative Elections.” Political Psychology 30:953–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar