Issue Priorities and Policy and Overall Presidential Approval

• In Event: The Public Presidency

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between issue priorities, policy evaluations of presidents and presidential approval. Using time series, cross-sectional individual-level data from 1981 to 2016, this paper demonstrates that issue priorities moderate the effect of policy evaluations on overall approval. People give more weight to the issue they prioritize in their assessment of government, and therefore their evaluation of policy performance is especially influential for overall approval on the issue they prioritize. The impact of issue priorities on overall approval varies by topic: Americans blame the president for mishandling foreign affairs but reward him for handling the economy. The strength also varies between in-partisans and out-partisans.

Author

• Amnon Cavari, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya