Elite Influence in Public Opinion and Structural Adjustment

• In Event: Poster Session: Presidents and Executive Politics & Public Policy
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Public Policy

Abstract

Citizens bias their support for public policies depending on the parties and leaders that are behind them. In an original survey experiment we assess the scope of elite influence in the support for policies, putting into test the likelihood of generating public acceptance for different structural adjustment measures in a developing country with emerging polarization. We build on the prolific literature on welfare retrenchment; however, while this literature focuses on institutional and public opinion variables (such as the degree of public discontent, the characteristics of political parties and the organizational nature of welfare systems), we address the behavioral basis behind public consensus. In particular, we study how partisan motivated reasoning affects individuals’ reaction toward unpopular measures taken by rightist governments in new democracies, such as raising the price of public services, cutting wages, privatizing state-owned industries and undertaking foreign debt repayment initiatives.

Authors

• Eduardo Levy Yeyati, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

• Lorena Moscovich, Universidad de San Andrés