Defining Racial and Ethnic Context with Geolocation Data
Research Question
How does the political context shape public evaluations of presidential power and the use of executive orders?
Main Finding
Public support for executive orders depends heavily on partisan alignment. When presidents use unilateral tools, co-partisans reward them and out-partisans punish them–-regardless of the issue or justification.
Research Design
Survey experiments varying the identity of the president, the issue area, and the type of justification given for an executive order.
Data Employed
Experimental data from large national surveys examining public reaction to hypothetical uses of executive power.
Substantive Importance
This study shows how partisan polarization shapes not only elite behavior but also mass attitudes toward executive power. It reveals a key mechanism behind the erosion of consensus on constitutional norms.
Research Areas
Research Methods, Survey Research, Geographic Context, Electoral Geography, Quantitative Methods
Citation
@article{context,
author = {Moore, Ryan T. and Reeves, Andrew},
title = {Defining Racial and Ethnic Context with Geolocation Data},
journal = {Political Science Research and Methods},
volume = {8},
number = {4},
pages = {780-794},
year = {2020},
}