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How Presidents Shape Their Party's Reputation and Prospects: New Evidence
Author(s) -
Jacobson Gary C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12168
Subject(s) - reputation , popularity , political science , affect (linguistics) , politics , sympathy , ideology , attractiveness , competence (human resources) , public relations , public administration , law , sociology , social psychology , psychology , communication , psychoanalysis
Previous work has demonstrated presidents have a powerful influence on their party's popularity, reputation for competence, perceived ideological leanings, and attractiveness as an object of personal identification. This article extends the analysis by examining (1) how presidents shape popular opinions of congressional parties and leaders, (2) how evaluations of the president's handling of specific policy areas affect his party's reputation for effectiveness in handing these domains, (3) how presidents affect perceptions of their party's sympathy for ordinary people, (4) how presidents influence generic preferences for House candidates and party control of Congress as measured in surveys between elections, and (5) how presidents affect the partisan leanings of the generation that comes of political age during their administrations. The evidence confirms that popular reactions to presidents have both immediate and longer‐term consequences for how his party and, to a lesser extent, the rival party are regarded by the American people.