Journal article
Electoral and structural losers and support for a national referendum in the U.S
Electoral studies, Vol.29(3), pp.509-520
2010
DOI: 10.1016/j.electstud.2010.04.017
Abstract
The U.S. is one of only a few democracies in the world never to hold a national referendum. Recent national surveys reveal that a majority of respondents approve of a national referendum both cross-nationally and in America is relatively stable. Building on previous work (
Bowler and Donovan, 2007), we find public opinion on a reform proposal is
fluid and
responsive to electoral politics, rather than stable as reported in earlier work. In this paper, we argue that contemporary support for a national referendum in the U.S. is contingent on whether a citizen is a short- or long-term “winner” or a “loser” when it comes to electoral politics. We expect that public support for a national referendum in the U.S., where legislation referred by Congress would be subject to a popular vote, may vary at the individual level because of short-term electoral fortunes as well as long-term structural conditions. Strategic voting as well as losing in candidate races and policy issues may be important, but so might be partisanship, with non-partisans the most likely to benefit from citizen law-making at the national level. Support for a national referendum might also be contingent upon state context, that is, upon use of direct democracy in the state where a person lives, as well as the population of a state. The results based on a natural experiment and 2008 panel survey data provide an important window into understanding public opinion on institutional change more broadly.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Electoral and structural losers and support for a national referendum in the U.S
- Creators
- Daniel A Smith - Department of Political Science, PO Box 117325, Anderson Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USACaroline J Tolbert - Department of Political Science, 341 Schaeffer Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USAAmanda M Keller - Department of Political Science, 341 Schaeffer Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Electoral studies, Vol.29(3), pp.509-520
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.electstud.2010.04.017
- ISSN
- 0261-3794
- eISSN
- 1873-6890
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2010
- Academic Unit
- Political Science; Public Policy Center (Archive); Center for Social Science Innovation
- Record Identifier
- 9983989279502771
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