Abstract
We theorize that campaign intensity alters the criteria individuals use when evaluating candidates. We define campaign intensity as the culmination of the interplay among the candidates, news media, and the perceived closeness of the race. As the intensity increases, we expect people to adjust their decision-making critea. Examining the impact of intensity in 97 Senate races between 1988 and 1992, we find that intense campaigns encourage individuals to rely more heavily on both sophisticated criteria and simple decision rules when forming impressions of candidates. As campaigns become more hard-fought, people are more likely to consider policy and ideology as well as partisanship and retrospective evaluations of the president and the economy. While the campaign setting clearly affects citizens' decision-making processes, different types of people react differently to the intensity of the campaign. As races become more competitive, novices begin to rely more heavily on issues, sociotropic assessments, party identification, and presidential approval, whereas political experts are less affected by changes in the campaign environment.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1173-1205 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Journal | Journal of Politics |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - Nov 1997 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
A model of candidate evaluations in senate elections : The impact of campaign intensity. / Kahn, Kim Fridkin; Kenney, Patrick.
In: Journal of Politics, Vol. 59, No. 4, 11.1997, p. 1173-1205.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A model of candidate evaluations in senate elections
T2 - The impact of campaign intensity
AU - Kahn, Kim Fridkin
AU - Kenney, Patrick
PY - 1997/11
Y1 - 1997/11
N2 - We theorize that campaign intensity alters the criteria individuals use when evaluating candidates. We define campaign intensity as the culmination of the interplay among the candidates, news media, and the perceived closeness of the race. As the intensity increases, we expect people to adjust their decision-making critea. Examining the impact of intensity in 97 Senate races between 1988 and 1992, we find that intense campaigns encourage individuals to rely more heavily on both sophisticated criteria and simple decision rules when forming impressions of candidates. As campaigns become more hard-fought, people are more likely to consider policy and ideology as well as partisanship and retrospective evaluations of the president and the economy. While the campaign setting clearly affects citizens' decision-making processes, different types of people react differently to the intensity of the campaign. As races become more competitive, novices begin to rely more heavily on issues, sociotropic assessments, party identification, and presidential approval, whereas political experts are less affected by changes in the campaign environment.
AB - We theorize that campaign intensity alters the criteria individuals use when evaluating candidates. We define campaign intensity as the culmination of the interplay among the candidates, news media, and the perceived closeness of the race. As the intensity increases, we expect people to adjust their decision-making critea. Examining the impact of intensity in 97 Senate races between 1988 and 1992, we find that intense campaigns encourage individuals to rely more heavily on both sophisticated criteria and simple decision rules when forming impressions of candidates. As campaigns become more hard-fought, people are more likely to consider policy and ideology as well as partisanship and retrospective evaluations of the president and the economy. While the campaign setting clearly affects citizens' decision-making processes, different types of people react differently to the intensity of the campaign. As races become more competitive, novices begin to rely more heavily on issues, sociotropic assessments, party identification, and presidential approval, whereas political experts are less affected by changes in the campaign environment.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0031260729&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0031260729
VL - 59
SP - 1173
EP - 1205
JO - Journal of Politics
JF - Journal of Politics
SN - 0022-3816
IS - 4
ER -