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The influence of political leaders on policy preferences
(2019-10) Abuin, Maria Constanza
Public opinion is sensitive to the way policy proposals are framed and elite policy endorsement can be thought as a powerful form of framing. Using original data from a survey experiment in a polarized political setting, this work explores the role of leader and party sponsorship in shaping public opinion over policies. Both leader and party cues are found to affect policy preferences, regardless of the intrinsic nature of the policy. The influence of sponsorship is strong enough to introduce opinion polarization in ex-ante non-divisive issues. Furthermore, some leaders and parties appear to be more influential than others, both for their supporters and their detractors. In view of these findings, this work assesses how endorsement effects alter policymakers' ability to undertake relevant reforms. The net effect of endorsement is found to be largely negative: the increase in policy approval in party and leader's supporters is outweighed by the growth in rejection from detractors. Finally, this paper provides evidence on the limits to de-polarization, documenting the ineffectiveness of bipartisan sponsorship and “against-type” endorsement to broaden policy support.