Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Candidate Evaluation and Selection
- 2 The Importance of Issue Representation in a Polarized Congress
- 3 Can Citizens Assess Policies Based on Programs’ Costs and Benefits? The Role of Yardsticks and Contextual Information in Democratic Accountability
- 4 Logic with Polarized Parties, Changing Media, and Motivated Reasoners
- 5 Groups, Parties, and Policy Demands in House Nominations
- Part II The Media and The Informational Environment
- Part III Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
- Part IV Outside The Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
4 - Logic with Polarized Parties, Changing Media, and Motivated Reasoners
from Part I - Candidate Evaluation and Selection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 February 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Candidate Evaluation and Selection
- 2 The Importance of Issue Representation in a Polarized Congress
- 3 Can Citizens Assess Policies Based on Programs’ Costs and Benefits? The Role of Yardsticks and Contextual Information in Democratic Accountability
- 4 Logic with Polarized Parties, Changing Media, and Motivated Reasoners
- 5 Groups, Parties, and Policy Demands in House Nominations
- Part II The Media and The Informational Environment
- Part III Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
- Part IV Outside The Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Chapter 4, by Patrick Egan and Markus Prior, continues with the examination of electoral accountability and the psychology of citizen evaluation of incumbents by using R. Douglas Arnold’s The Logic of Congressional Action as a springboard. The authors carefully explicate Arnold’s assumptions about voter psychology and then evaluate them in light of recent scholarship and political developments. In their account, tighter voter association between incumbents and parties, decreased information about incumbents and policy outcomes, and heightened motivated reasoning require significant modification of Arnold’s classic assumptions. Still, they argue, a realistic appreciation of the new voter psychology of accountability does not imply Westminster-style accountability of legislators based exclusively on party labels. The real consequences of policies continue to matter to voters. But, the changes do imply that party labels and primaries matter more than formerly.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Accountability ReconsideredVoters, Interests, and Information in US Policymaking, pp. 68 - 88Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023