THE CONSEQUENCES OF PARTISANSHIP IN ECONOMIC PERCEPTIONS

We investigate the role of economic perceptions in macropolitical analyses, with a particular focus on the role that partisanship might play in shaping consumer sentiment. Instead of taking consumer sentiment at the fully aggregated level, as is customary, we disaggregate by party in order to see th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public opinion quarterly 2012-07, Vol.76 (2), p.287-310
Main Authors: ENNS, PETER K., KELLSTEDT, PAUL M., MCAVOY, GREGORY E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied economics
Consumer economics
Economic conditions
Economic impact analysis
Economic indices
Economic modeling
Economic models
Economic policy
Partisanship
Perception
Perceptions
Political parties
Political partisanship
Political sociology
Public opinion
Sociology
Studies
Unemployment
United States
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Summary:We investigate the role of economic perceptions in macropolitical analyses, with a particular focus on the role that partisanship might play in shaping consumer sentiment. Instead of taking consumer sentiment at the fully aggregated level, as is customary, we disaggregate by party in order to see the effects of partisanship on over-time evaluations of the economy. Analyzing four presidential administrations' worth of public opinion data, we find that differences in Republicans' and Democrats' beliefs about the changing economy do not cancel in the aggregate. Furthermore, our macroanalysis shows that the endogeneity of consumer sentiment to partisanship leads to a clear overestimate of the role of consumer sentiment on approval of the president's handling of the economy.
ISSN:0033-362X
1537-5331
DOI:10.1093/poq/nfs016