The 2011 Saskatchewan Election saw a landslide victory for The Saskatchewan Party. They also achieved this victory during a time in which the province was experiencing economic revitalization. Past studies have suggested that incumbents are rewarded for good economic times. As such, the 2011 Saskatchewan election provides for a good case study that aims to understand if perceptions of the economy influenced Saskatchewan residents vote choice at that time. Using data collected from the 2011 Saskatchewan Election Study, this thesis has found that retrospective sociotropic and egocentric perceptions of the economy did have a small direct role in influencing vote choice during the election. However, this thesis also found that once leadership opinions of Brad Wall were added to the statistical analysis these perceptions became insignificant. Interestingly, the same economic perceptions were found to make up a part of Wall’s leadership evaluation. With leadership evaluations being the largest determinant of vote choice, this thesis found that economic perceptions did play a role in the 2011 Saskatchewan Election, albeit in a roundabout way.

How does digital media and online news, especially blogs, influence support for women congressional and presidential candidates? From work on traditional print and television news we know women are framed differently than men, and are more likely to be framed as women (appearance, clothing, mother or wife, marital status, sex, gendered issues). I argue the transition to digital media (blogs and online news) is exacerbating these trends, increasing gender stereotype opinions of women candidates in the mass public, among both men and women. In turn I find gender stereotype opinions combined with use of online media reduces the probability of voting for women candidates. While much of the literature on digital media focuses on the positives that come with increased political information, participation and mobilization, holding these factors constant, this research highlights a potential cost of digital media. Much of what we know about the media and women candidates is based on content analysis of newspapers and television stories (Bystrom 20004; 2010a; 2010b; Iyengar et al1997; Lawrence and Rose 2010). The dominant literature on the impact of the mass media on women candidates is based on experimental framing studies with hypothetical female candidates. But media scholars are increasing interested in digital media and citizen journalism, as more Americans now read their news online than read a print newspaper. Davis (2009) and Sunstein (2007) find that journalists too are increasingly turning to the blogs for ideas and content that run on mainstream media. While citizen journalism has many benefits (see Shirky 2010), there is less fact checking with online news, where rumors can often masquerade as truth. Analysis of the coverage of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential run found that coverage of Clinton online, especially the blogs, was more sexist than mainstream media (Lawrence and Rose 2010; Richie 2013). For example, one group sold t-shirts and bumper stickers staying "Get Hillary Back in the Kitchen." Boystrum (2010) analyses how women and men presidential, congressional and gubernatorial candidates differ, and how this affects media coverage of the candidates. Using content analysis, she finds no gendered differences in the content of their websites. Thus this research focuses on blogs and online news rather than candidate websites. No previous research has considered individual level data on use of online news for politics and whether this leads to gender stereotype opinions; nor has the existing research considered whether digital media use, combined believing in these stereotypes of women, impacts voting for women candidates in real election contexts. Rather than content analysis used in political communications or laboratory experiments often used in gender studies, this research relies on national survey data to measure the effect of digital media use for voting for women candidates in actual electoral campaigns. Combining large sample nationwide survey data of all congressional candidates running in 2008, 2010 and 2012, with a sample of Iowa caucus participants, and a unique national survey of primary voters, this research seeks to answer two primary questions. First, what is the effect of use of blog and online news on gendered stereotype opinion of women and male candidates (see Chapters 3 and 5)? Secondly, what is the combined effect of digital media use and gendered opinions in reducing support at the ballot box for women for the U.S. House or the president (see Chapters 4 and 6)? To consider the overall, or net effect, of digital media on support for women candidates, I incorporate the benefits of online news and communication to engage and mobilize the public. Across many detailed analyses presented in this research, I find that reading blogs and online news generally increases the likelihood of forming opinions about women candidates colored by gender stereotypes, based on experience, knowledge, competency, integrity, strong leader, caring and more. In Chapter 3 I consider the case of Hillary Clinton and find that reading the news online and using online political information increased the belief that Clinton was less experienced, and was less trustworthy. In Chapter 4 I find that gender stereotype opinions and digital media use reduced favorability ratings of Clinton and Clinton compared to her male presidential contenders (Obama and Edwards). These two factors also reduced the probably of voting for her, holding other factors constant. Chapter 5 analyses all U.S. House races from 2008, 2010, and 2012 with a women candidate. Individuals who used online news or political blogs are more likely to believe the woman candidate is less competent, lacks integrity, and is less caring than the man candidate, holding other factors constant. Finally, the results from Chapter 6 show gendered opinions and digital media reduce the likelihood of voting for the woman candidate. The overall, or net effect, models show even the positive effect of online mobilization is outweighed by the negative effect of digital media combined with the believe in gender stereotypes. Such gendered opinions of women candidates are widely held by the mass public. The dominant explanation for why Obama, as an underdog candidate won the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination was that he was able to mobilize and engage the public, especially the young, through online media. These online venues also significantly increased the money Obama raised through small dollar contributions (Redlawsk et al 2010). However, what these stories ignore is the negative media coverage of his primary opponent, Hillary Clinton, online. This study attempts to systematically and empirically document how the Internet and online news may contributed to reduced support for Clinton's candidacy and women congressional candidates more generally. As new communication mediums are developed there are often short-term increases in misinformation with the proliferation of information, but as standards are established this chaos disappears. Digital media's effect on women candidates for elected office over the long run is unclear and deserves further study.

This paper examines variables that may have contributed to Republican Assembly members’ 2017 support for the extension of California's cap-and-trade program. It focuses on district party demographics and voting history, the suspension of the Fire Protection Fee and the level of GHG emissions per district.

There has been much speculation recently as to the political effect that "moral values" have on Americans and much research has shown inconclusive results as far as the effect of class. This paper aims to study how class and values, including moral values and postmaterialist values, interact with politics in the United States. The analyses performed to determine these effects include crosstabulation and logistical regressions and will include data from the National Election Studies (NES). It is found that postmaterialist values have little effect on political behavior but in separate analyses, class and moral values have increasing influences on vote choice and partisan identification. It is also determined that moral values currently has more influence on presidential votes, but there is no clear indication that values are consistent indicators of House vote choice or partisan identification.

No description available.

This thesis addresses the omission in the literature of how political context influences the performance of informational shortcuts. In line with this research gap, the first article suggests that parliamentarian and party-oriented systems encourage the performance of ideology, party identification and leadership, as their use increases the probability to participate in elections, while the effective number of parties has no impact. The second article focus on Spain and two contextual shortcuts - incumbency and electoral polls-. The findings indicate that peripheral voters has the highest propensity to vote for left wing parties when the polls show that the left party is going to win the elections and it is the challenger in salient elections or the incumbent in a nonsalient election. The third article analyses the Spanish case and the impact of leader evaluations and ideology on vote choice over time. The findings manifest that while ideology becomes more important, the utility of leader evaluation is reduced once the informational context becomes more fruitful and stable. / Esta tesis aborda la omisión en la literatura de cómo el contexto político influye en el funcionamiento de los atajos informativos. En línea con esta limitación en la literatura, el primer artículo examina qué instituciones promueven un mejor funcionamiento de la ideología, la identificación partidista y el liderazgo, midiendo los efectos de su uso en la probabilidad de participar en las elecciones. La evidencia muestra como los sistemas parlamentarios y los sistemas orientados a partidos promueven un mejor funcionamiento de los tres atajos, mientras que el número efectivo de partidos no tiene impacto. El segundo artículo se basa en España y dos atajos contextuales –estar en el gobierno y los sondeos electorales- para explorar el saber convencional de que un mayor porcentaje de voto beneficia a los partidos de izquierdas. La evidencia indica que los votantes periféricos tienen la mayor probabilidad de votar a partidos de izquierdas cuando en elecciones relevantes los sondeos muestran que el partido de izquierdas va a ganar las elecciones y está en la oposición o cuando está en el gobierno en elecciones no importantes. El tercer artículo analiza el caso español y el impacto de las evaluaciones de los líderes y la ideología en el voto a través del tiempo. Los resultados manifiestan que, si bien la ideología se vuelve más importante, la utilidad de la evaluación el líder se reduce una vez que el contexto informativo se vuelve más rico y estable.

No description available.

In the final days leading up to elections, many major newspapers in Canada and around the world depart from the principle of media neutrality and openly support a particular political party. Do these overt attempts at persuasion by trusted institutions actually affect the vote choice of their readership, and are these effects felt evenly across the population? In this thesis, I examine the 2011 and 2015 Canadian federal elections using data from the 2011 Canadian Election Study and the 2015 Making Electoral Democracy Work project. I find voters to be significantly influenced by their newspaper’s endorsement in the 2015 sample, and find that this influence primarily influences those who identify with no party. Although the influence is modest in size, with the geographic concentration of newspaper readership it is potentially large enough to influence outcomes in individual ridings. Combined with my finding that newspaper endorsements are far from evenly distributed across parties, this has troubling implications for Canadian democracy.

Un intérêt croissant pour les prédispositions individuelles est apparu au cours des deux dernières décennies en psychologie politique. Une grande variété de sujets a été étudiée comme la participation politique et électorale, les connaissances politiques, les attitudes et l'identification partisane. Ces études sont généralement basées sur le modèle du Big Five, avançant que cinq traits résumeraient la personnalité des individus. Ceux-ci sont l'ouverture à l’expérience, l'extraversion, l'agréabilité, la conscienciosité et la stabilité émotionnelle. La plupart des publications évaluant le lien entre la personnalité et la politique se concentrent sur les effets directs. Cependant, le modèle du Big Five suggère clairement que la relation entre les traits et les attitudes, comportements et identités politiques est également indirecte. En utilisant les données de l'American National Election Study de 2012 et 2016, j’analyserai d'abord comment la personnalité affecte la partisanerie, le choix électoral, l'intérêt politique et les attitudes envers le changement climatique. Je confirme que la personnalité a un effet direct sur les points de vue politiques. Deuxièmement, les effets de médiation de trois valeurs seront étudiées: l'idéologie, l'égalitarisme et le traditionalisme moral. L'analyse de médiation permet de décomposer l'effet causal total (ATE) en deux: l'effet moyen de médiation causale (ACME) et l'effet direct moyen (ADE). Je trouve que la plupart des effets sont médiés par l'idéologie, le traditionalisme moral et l'égalitarisme. 80% des associations sont médiées par au moins une valeur. Par conséquent, cette étude fournit des résultats suggérant que la personnalité est un facteur important dans l'explication des attitudes, des comportements et de l'identité partisane, et elle indique que les valeurs sont un mécanisme par lequel la personnalité a un effet. / A growing interest in individuals’ predispositions has emerged over the last two decades in political psychology. A wide variety of topics have been studied, such as turnout, political knowledge, attitudes, participation, and partisan identification. These studies are usually based on the Big Five model, arguing that five traits would summarize the personality of individuals. The five traits are openness to experience, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. Most of the literature assessing the link between personality and politics focuses on the direct effects. However, the Big Five model clearly states that the relationship between traits and political attitudes, behaviours, and identities is also indirect. Using the data from the American National Election Study of 2012 and 2016, we firstly analyze how personality affects partisanship, vote choice, political interest, and attitudes toward climate change. We confirm that personality does have a direct effect on political outlooks. Secondly, we focus on the mediation effects of three values: ideology, egalitarianism, and moral traditionalism. The mediation analysis allows us to decompose the total causal (ATE) effect in two: the average causal mediation effect (ACME) and the average direct effect (ADE). We find that most of the effects are mediated by ideology, moral traditionalism, and egalitarianism. 80% of the associations are mediated by at least one mediator. Hence, this study offers evidence that personality is an important factor in the explanation of attitudes, behaviours, and partisan identity, and it indicates that values are an important mechanism through which personality has an effect.

No description available.