Electoral and structural losers and support for a national referendum in the U.S.

Smith, Daniel A.; Tolbert, Caroline J.; Keller, Amanda

doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2010.04.017

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Instrumental considerations are rarely discussed in the literature on process preferences, yet one notable exception is Smith et al. (). Inspired by Bowler and Donovan's () study on the relationship between electoral loss and support for institutional reform, Smith et al.…”

Section: Explanations For Support For Direct Decision Making By Citizensmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors explain these findings by arguing that there are ‘strategic pockets of support (and opposition) for a national referendum’ (Smith et al. : 509). Because citizens know that they have less chance of getting their desired outcome through representative decision making if their party is not in power, it is ‘rational’ to be more in favour of referendums to reach desired policies.…”

Section: Explanations For Support For Direct Decision Making By Citizensmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I aim to shed light on the role of such considerations by building on research on instrumental reactions to electoral loss in the American context (Bowler & Donovan ; Smith et al. ) and on research on the role of outcome favourability for the evaluation of decision‐making processes (e.g., Esaiasson et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

If I'll win it, I want it: The role of instrumental considerations in explaining public support for referendums

Werner

2019

European J Political Res

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Across established democracies, citizens express high levels of support for decision making via referendums. What drives these preferences remains yet unclear. In this article it is argued that, first, process preferences are less stable than previously assumed but vary substantially across policy proposals. Second, it is suggested that instrumental considerations play an important role in shaping citizens' preferences for referendums. Specifically, citizens who favour the policy proposal or believe that they hold a majority opinion are expected to express more support for the use of referendums. An original survey was designed and conducted in the Netherlands (N = 1,289) that contains both between and within respondent variation across a range of policy proposals. The findings support these arguments: Both the desire for a specific policy change and the perception of being in the majority with one's policy preference relate to support for the use of referendums across policy proposals, levels of governance, and between and within respondents. This study contributes to a better understanding of process preferences by showing that these preferences have a non-stable component and that instrumental considerations play an important role in citizens' support for referendums.

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Section: Explanations For Support For Direct Decision Making By Citizensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Explanations For Support For Direct Decision Making By Citizensmentioning

confidence: 99%

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If I'll win it, I want it: The role of instrumental considerations in explaining public support for referendums

Werner

2019

European J Political Res

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“…Support for a national referendum in the United States also appears to be tied to short and long term electoral fortunes of groups (Smith, Tolbert and Keller 2010). The findings from this literature paint a picture of those who favor direct legislation as being those who feel shut out by the current political process and favor greater involvement in their democracy.…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 75%

The Limits of Citizen Support for Direct Democracy

Dyck¹,

Baldassare²

2012

CJPP

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Direct democracy is extraordinarily popular and has become a pervasive policymaking tool at the state and local level. Repeated surveys demonstrate that Americans strongly approve of allowing people to vote on citizen-proposed laws, a method currently allowed in about half the states and in many municipalities. This paper examines the extent of this support. Using dimension reduction techniques, we present evidence that demonstrates that with regards to approval of direct democracy, most voters find themselves in the middle. On principal, they approve of voting on ballot measures, but they express concern about campaigns and would support reforms. Opinions about direct democracy are unidimensional and close examination of questions demonstrates that Californians will express general support for direct democracy, but are amenable to changes to the process that would fundamentally alter its usage.

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“…Bowler and Donovan (2007) note that a voter's status as an electoral winner or loser shapes their support for electoral reforms and degree of risk aversion. Political losers are more likely to support the adoption of a national referendum (Smith, Tolbert, and Keller 2010), redistricting reform (Tolbert, Smith, and Green 2009), and national presidential nominating procedures (Tolbert, Redlawsk, and Bowen 2009).…”

Section: Instrumental Concernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conventional Wisdom? Analyzing Public Support for a State Constitutional Convention Referendum

Lewis

Collens

Cutler

2019

State and Local Government Review

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Although fourteen American states periodically hold automatic referendums on whether to hold a state constitutional convention, no state has approved a constitutional convention referendum since 1984. This study explores the puzzle of why voters would oppose an opportunity to broadly reform state government and the factors that underlie these attitudes. Analyses of two statewide surveys of registered voters in New York during the 2017 Constitutional Convention Referendum campaign reveal that campaign framing, elite cues, and instrumental concerns have led voters to take risk-averse positions in order to minimize potential losses that could result from a constitutional convention.

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Electoral and structural losers and support for a national referendum in the U.S.

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

If I'll win it, I want it: The role of instrumental considerations in explaining public support for referendums

If I'll win it, I want it: The role of instrumental considerations in explaining public support for referendums

The Limits of Citizen Support for Direct Democracy

Conventional Wisdom? Analyzing Public Support for a State Constitutional Convention Referendum

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