Do Public Consultations Reduce Blame Attribution? The Impact of Consultation Characteristics, Gender, and Gender Attitudes
Kevins, Anthony; Vis, Barbara
(2023) Political Behavior, volume 45, issue 3, pp.
(Article)
Abstract
Can public consultations—gatherings organised to solicit constituent opinions—reduce the blame attributed to elected representatives whose decisions end up backfiring? Using two pre-registered survey experiments conducted on nationally representative samples of US respondents, we examine whether the effectiveness of consultations as a blame avoidance tool may be shaped by: (1) consultation
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characteristics, especially regarding whether or not representatives align their policies, either actively or passively, with constituent opinion; and (2) elected representative and constituent characteristics, especially regarding a representative’s gender and constituents’ gender attitudes. Results suggest that public consultations are indeed liable to decrease blame attribution, just so long as constituent opinion is not explicitly opposed to the representative’s decision. Active alignment with constituent opinion, however, does not appear to be a requirement for decreased blame attribution—and effects related to gender and gender attitudes are also largely absent. These findings are important for scholars seeking to better understand blame attribution, clarifying how public consultations might help politicians to pre-empt blame by reducing clarity of responsibility.
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Keywords: Blame avoidance, Clarity of responsibility, Gender, Hostile sexism, Public consultations, Sociology and Political Science
ISSN: 0190-9320
Publisher: Springer
Note: Funding Information: This research was funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme via a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (Grant no. 750556). The paper also benefited from feedback provided at the University of Amsterdam Hot Politics Lab, the Utrecht University School of Governance, the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Dutch and Flemish Political Science Associations, and the 2021 American Politics Group Annual Conference. We would also like to thank Loes Aaldering, Marija Aleksovska, Tom Overmans, Gijs Schumacher, Laura Skillen, Mariken van der Velden, Kees van Kersbergen, the Editors at Political Behavior, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Funding Information: Horizon 2020 Programme (European Commission), Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (Grant no. 750556). Funding Information: This research was funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme via a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (Grant no. 750556). The paper also benefited from feedback provided at the University of Amsterdam Hot Politics Lab, the Utrecht University School of Governance, the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Dutch and Flemish Political Science Associations, and the 2021 American Politics Group Annual Conference. We would also like to thank Loes Aaldering, Marija Aleksovska, Tom Overmans, Gijs Schumacher, Laura Skillen, Mariken van der Velden, Kees van Kersbergen, the Editors at Political Behavior, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
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