From Partisanism to Issue Content: Rethinking the Drivers of Public Policy Inclinations

• In Event: Trust and Partisanship

Abstract

How do individuals form their policy preferences? In this research note, we examine what makes individuals more likely to support or oppose a policy. We revisit the framework elaborated by Barber & Pope (2019) on the influence that Donald Trump has on people when it comes to taking liberal or conservative policy positions by presenting a closer examination to which policy positions are more likely to be influenced. Through a survey experiment, we provide respondents with policy cues attributed to Trump on the liberal-conservative spectrum. We find strong differences in the level of external influences on policy positions: liberal cues attributed to Trump make people hold aligned positions regarding immigration policies, whereas conservative cues have the opposite effect on background checks. We find no effect on other topics, such as taxes, abortion, or gun control policy positions. These results extend current scholarship by showing that individuals' positions are also susceptible to being shaped depending on their topic, and not only by ideology or party influence.

Authors

• Francisca Castro, International Security and Development Center

• Jennifer Oser, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel

• Fernando Feitosa, McGill University

• Nir Grinberg, Network Science Institute