The American Voter, Entertained: The Political Consequences of The Apprentice

• In Event: The Political Economy of Mass Media in the United States

Brief Overview

We leverage the unconventional career path of Donald Trump to test the role of entertainment media on American electoral behavior. We quantify the extent to which The Apprentice viewership increased the vote share for Donald Trump in 2016.

Authors

• Eunji Kim, Vanderbilt University

• Shawn Patterson, Southern Oregon University

• Heyu Xiong, Northwestern University