Funding the CDC: The Role of Message (Mis)alignment for Fiscal Preferences

• In Event: Bridging the Divide: Polarization, Ideology, Trust, and Conspiracy

Abstract

Existing research in political science indicates that Americans' distrust of government diminishes their willingness to pay taxes for COVID-19-related policies. We introduce a new approach that leverages information treatments highlighting message misalignment between the presidential administration and the CDC to assess how trust in government affects support for COVID-19 policies. Our analysis is based on two survey experiments—one conducted during the Trump administration and the other during the Biden administration—estimating how increases in political trust influence support for federal government spending or willingness to pay additional taxes for COVID-19. We also consider the broader implications of these findings for understanding the factors driving support for COVID-19 policies during a period marked by declining confidence in the CDC and heightened public health concerns following vaccine development.

Author

• Yuhsin Hsu, Indiana University
  Presenting Author