scholarly journals Sexual Predators in Contest for Public Office: How the American Electorate Responds to News of Allegations of Candidates Committing Sexual Assault and Harassment

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992199533
Author(s):  
Stephanie Stark ◽  
Sofía Collignon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Political Campaign ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Sexual Predators ◽  
Candidate Characteristics ◽  
Voter Choice ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Do So

Candidate characteristics have an important impact on voter choice, and scandals are found to negatively impact a political campaign. Yet the literature, with its focus on scandals such as financial and (consensual) affairs, has failed to look into how allegations of sexual assault and harassment may impact electability. This study analyzes the effect that allegations of sexual assault or harassment have on the electoral success of American politicians. Using an original survey experiment, we find that, on average, American citizens are less likely to support a candidate accused of sexual assault or sexual harassment. However, not all voters do so to the same magnitude. We find that Democrats are significantly less likely to support a candidate that faces such allegations. Republicans do not strongly penalize candidates facing allegations of sexual assault or harassment, especially if the candidate is identified as a Republican. We analyze open-ended survey responses to offer an explanation for such variation: a propensity to disbelieve women who speak out about sexual assault and harassment explains variations in why some voters may not change their opinion of a candidate based on an allegation.

Weighing Lives in War: How National Identity Influences American Public Opinion about Foreign Civilian and Compatriot Fatalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-43
Author(s):  
Scott D Sagan ◽  
Benjamin A Valentino
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Military Operation ◽  
International Context ◽  
Us Military ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Collateral Harm ◽  
Do So

Abstract This article explores how the American public weighs tradeoffs between foreign and compatriot fatalities during war. This focus provides an important window into the meaning and significance of citizenship and national identity and, in turn, the most fateful consequences of inclusion and exclusion in the international context. To examine these attitudes, we conducted an original survey experiment asking subjects to consider a fictional US military operation in Afghanistan. We find that: (1) Americans are significantly more willing to accept the collateral deaths of foreign civilians as compared to American civilians in operations aiming to destroy important military targets; (2) Americans are less willing to risk the lives of American soldiers to minimize collateral harm to foreign civilians as compared to American civilians; (3) Americans who express relatively more favorable views of the United States compared to other nations are more willing to accept foreign collateral deaths in US military operations; and (4) Americans are more willing to accept Afghan civilian collateral deaths than those of citizens from a neutral state, such as India. Many Americans recognize that placing a much higher value on compatriot lives over foreign lives is morally problematic, but choose to do so anyway.

Atomic Aversion: Experimental Evidence on Taboos, Traditions, and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
DARYL G. PRESS ◽  
SCOTT D. SAGAN ◽  
BENJAMIN A. VALENTINO
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
The Public ◽  
Conventional Weapons ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
Do So

How strong are normative prohibitions on state behavior? We examine this question by analyzing anti-nuclear norms, sometimes called the “nuclear taboo,” using an original survey experiment to evaluate American attitudes regarding nuclear use. We find that the public has only a weak aversion to using nuclear weapons and that this aversion has few characteristics of an “unthinkable” behavior or taboo. Instead, public attitudes about whether to use nuclear weapons are driven largely by consequentialist considerations of military utility. Americans’ willingness to use nuclear weapons increases dramatically when nuclear weapons provide advantages over conventional weapons in destroying critical targets. Americans who oppose the use of nuclear weapons seem to do so primarily for fear of setting a negative precedent that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons by other states against the United States or its allies in the future.

Campaign Advertising and the Cultivation of Crime Worry: Testing Relationships With Two Large Datasets From the 2016 U.S. Election Cycle

2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110209
Author(s):  
Jiawei Liu ◽  
Rosemary J. Avery ◽  
Erika F. Fowler ◽  
Laura Baum ◽  
Sarah E. Gollust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Large Datasets ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Political Campaign ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Campaign Ads ◽  
Voter Choice ◽  
Campaign Advertising

Previous research has documented that political information in the mass media can shape attitudes and behaviors beyond voter choice and election turnout. The current study extends this body of work to examine associations between televised political campaign advertising (one of the most common forms of political communication people encounter) and worry about crime and violence in the context of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. We merge two large datasets—Kantar/CMAG data on televised campaign advertisement airings ( n = 3,767,477) and Simmons National Consumer Survey (NCS) data on television viewing patterns and public attitudes ( n = 26,703 respondents in the United States)—to test associations between estimated exposure to campaign ads about crime and crime worry, controlling for demographics, local crime rates, and political factors. Results from multivariate models show that estimated cumulative exposure to campaign ads about crime is associated with higher levels of crime worry. Exposure to campaign ads about crime increased crime worry among Republicans, but not Democrats.

scholarly journals The Role of Trust in Student Perceptions of University Sexual Assault Policies and Services

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-53
Author(s):  
Olga Marques ◽  
Amanda Couture-Carron ◽  
Tyler Frederick ◽  
Hannah Scott
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Student Trust ◽  
The Government ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
The University ◽  
Do So

Many post-secondary institutions are developing policies and programs aimed at improving responses to sexual assault experienced by students. In some areas, such as Ontario, Canada, the government has mandated post-secondary institutions to do so. However significant these initiatives, they are predicated on the assumption that students trust, and want to engage with, the university following sexual violence. This study explores students’ perceptions of sexual assault policies and services on one mid-size university campus focusing specifically on how trust factors into reporting sexual victimization and using services. Findings show that students believe that sexual assault policies and programs exist, but this does not meanstudents are willing to use such resources or that they even trust that their university has students’ needs and interests at the fore. This paper discusses policy and programmatic considerations for building student trust in their post-secondary institutions to encourage student use of campus support.

Intervening in Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The Causal Effects of Factual Information on Attitudes toward Immigration

2021 ◽  
Vol 697 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-191
Author(s):  
Maria Abascal ◽  
Tiffany J. Huang ◽  
Van C. Tran
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Social Cognitions ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Factual Information ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Contrast Information ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigration

If preferences on immigration policy respond to facts, widespread misinformation poses an obstacle to consensus. Does factual information about immigration indeed affect policy preferences? Are beliefs about immigration’s societal impact the mechanism through which factual information affects support for increased immigration? To address these questions, we conducted an original survey experiment, in which we presented a nationally representative sample of 2,049 Americans living in the United States with facts about immigrants’ English acquisition and immigrants’ impact on crime, jobs, and taxes—four domains with common misperceptions. Three of these factual domains (immigration’s impact on crime, jobs, and taxes) raise overall support for increased immigration. These facts also affect beliefs that are directly relevant to that information. Moreover, those beliefs mediate the effect of factual information on support for increased immigration. By contrast, information about English acquisition affects neither policy preferences nor beliefs about immigration’s impact. Facts can leverage social cognitions to change policy preferences.

Opposition fragmentation facilitates electoral accountability. Evidence from a survey experiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110524
Author(s):  
Sergi Ferrer
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Direct Test ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
The One

Which is better for electoral accountability: a fragmented opposition that gives plenty of alternatives or an opposition with fewer stronger parties? While oppositions play a key role in democracies, the effect of opposition fragmentation on accountability remains unclear. On the one hand, fragmentation may enhance accountability by providing voters with ideologically close alternatives. On the other hand, increased fragmentation could make coordination over strong viable alternatives more difficult. In this study, I present an original survey experiment designed to test whether fragmentation of the opposition enhances accountability. Moreover, to assess the specific conditions under which fragmentation may enhance accountability, I distinguish between ideologues and pragmatic voters, and differentiate between ideological and valence issues. Results show that opposition fragmentation enhances accountability, particularly for ideologues. Lastly, I present a direct test of the mechanisms that demonstrates that fragmentation improves accountability because marginal gains in ideological proximity outweigh losses in viability.

scholarly journals The Lesser Evil? Corruption Voting and the Importance of Clean Alternatives

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Agerberg
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Political Corruption ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Public Office ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The World ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Choice Option

Surveys show that citizens in all parts of the world have a strong distaste for corruption. At the same time, and contrary to the predictions of democratic theory, politicians involved in the most glaring abuse of public office often continue to receive electoral support. Using an original survey experiment conducted in Spain, this article explores a previously understudied aspect of this apparent paradox: the importance of viable and clean political alternatives. The results suggest that voters do punish political corruption when a clean alternative exists, even when the corrupt candidate is very appealing in other respects. However, when only given corrupt alternatives, respondents become much more likely to tolerate a candidate accused of corruption—even when given a convenient “no-choice” option. I discuss how these results can help us understand corruption voting and why some societies seem to be stuck in a high-corruption equilibrium.

Fluidity, Phenotype and Afro-Latin Group Consciousness

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-383
Author(s):  
Marcus Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Black Identity ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Group Consciousness ◽  
Linked Fate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Phenotypic Features ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Mixed Phenotype

AbstractRacial fluidity and mixed phenotype have been posited as critical barriers to politicized black identity in the region. Using an original, survey experiment in Panama, this paper finds that racial fluidity and phenotype significantly affect who identifies as black, but have relatively little impact on the strength of measures of black group consciousness. Rather than reducing the strength of group consciousness all together, racial fluidity and phenotype influence the salience of different measures of group consciousness. Afro-Panamanians with phenotypic features that stably predict black self-identification express stronger beliefs that racial discrimination is a problem in Panama (perceived discrimination) and greater dissatisfaction with the social standing of their in-group (polar power). In contrast, Afro-Panamanians with mixed phenotypic features express stronger in-group affect (pride), stronger belief in the efficacy of black collective mobilization (collective efficacy), and stronger linked fate.

scholarly journals Why the Gender of Traditional Authorities Matters: Intersectionality and Women’s Rights Advocacy in Malawi

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1881-1924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnhild L. Muriaas ◽  
Vibeke Wang ◽  
Lindsay Benstead ◽  
Boniface Dulani ◽  
Lise Rakner
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Heterogeneous Effects ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Traditional Authorities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Marriage Reform

Traditional leadership often coexists with modern political institutions; yet, we know little about how traditional and state authority cues—or those from male or female sources—affect public opinion. Using an original survey experiment of 1,381 Malawians embedded in the 2016 Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI), we randomly assign respondents into one of four treatment groups or a control group to hear messages about a child marriage reform from a female or male traditional authority (TA) or parliamentarian. In the sample as a whole, the female TA is as effective as the control (i.e., no endorsement), while other messengers elicit lower support (i.e., backfire effects). Endorsements produce heterogeneous effects across respondent sex and patrilineal/matrilineal customs, suggesting the need for tailored programs. Our paper adds an intersectional approach to the governance literature and offers a theoretical framework capable of explaining the impact of state and traditional endorsements across policy domains.

Issue Scales, Information Cues, and the Proximity and Directional Models of Voter Choice

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 772-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Kropko ◽  
Kevin K. Banda
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Strategies ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Voter Behavior ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Information Cues ◽  
Voter Choice ◽  
Proximity Voting ◽  
The Way

One of the most important questions in the study of democratic politics centers on how citizens consider issues and candidate positions when choosing whom to support in an election. The proximity and directional theories make fundamentally different predictions about voter behavior and imply different optimal strategies for candidates, but a longstanding literature to empirically adjudicate between the theories has yielded mixed results. We use a survey experiment to show that the way that candidates’ issue positions are described can cue citizens to choose a candidate that is preferred under the expectations of either the proximity or the directional theory. We find that directional voting is more likely when the issue scale is understood to represent degrees of intensity with which either the liberal or the conservative side of the issue is expressed and that proximity voting is more likely when an issue scale is understood to be a range of policies.

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