Experiments in Elite Behavior

Session Submission Type: In-Person Created Panel

Session Description

This panel showcases new behavioral research on elite behavior. The papers leverage different experimental methods to study how politicians and bureaucrats in established democracies respond to information, learn about new policies, or interact with voters. The different papers include original attitudinal and behavioral data from public officials in a wide set of Western countries including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Israel, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Together, the panel reveals how surveys and field experiments with public officials (either as subjects or partners) can shed new light on seminal questions in different subfields, including political representation, political psychology, legislative politics, or policy diffusion.

Sub Unit

• Division 51: Experimental Research

Chair

• Miguel M. Pereira University of Southern California

Discussants

• Jennifer L. Bussell University of California, Berkeley

• Christian R. Grose University of Southern California

Individual Presentations

• How Trust in Bureaucracy Matters for How Politicians Use Information - Martin Baekgaard, Aarhus University; Soren Serritzlew, Aarhus University

• What Drives Politicians to Act on Climate? A Cross-National Field Experiment - Miguel Maria Pereira, Washington University in St. Louis; Maria Dominguez-Perez, Univeraity of Southern California; Kaya Axelsson, University of Oxford

• Personality and the Policy Positions of Politicians - Eran Amsalem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Lior Sheffer, Tel Aviv University

• Elite Influence on Receptiveness to Refugee Hosting - Francesco Colombo, European University Institute; Annabelle Wittels, European University Institute