Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T21:13:51.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Rigged-Election Rhetoric: Coverage and Consequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2018

Kirby Goidel
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Keith Gaddie
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma
Spencer Goidel
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University

Abstract

Using content analysis and original survey data, we investigated the news coverage and consequences of Donald Trump’s “rigged-election” claims during the 2016 presidential election. We added to previous literature by showing that the effects of such claims were highly contingent on individual partisan affiliation. Republicans and Independents who believed that the elections were rigged via voter fraud or media bias were more likely to report that they intended to vote or had already voted. Democrats and Independents who believed that Hillary Clinton would benefit from voter fraud or media bias were more likely to vote for Donald Trump.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aalberg, Toril, Stromback, Jesper, and de Vreese, Claes H.. 2012. “The Framing of Politics as Strategy and Game: A Review of Concepts, Operationalizations and Key Findings.” Journalism 13: 162–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Achen, Christopher H., and Blais, André. 2015. “Intention to Vote, Reported Vote and Validated Vote.” In The Act of Voting: Identities, Institutions and Locale, eds. Elkink, Johan A. and Farrell, David, 195209. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajzen, Icek. 1985. “From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior.” In Action Control: From Cognition to Behavior, eds. Kuhl, Julius and Beckmann, Jürgen, 1139. Berlin: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajzen, Icek, and Fishbein, Martin. 1970. “The Prediction of Behavior from Attitudinal and Normative Variables.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 6: 466–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azari, Julia R. 2016. “How the News Media Helped to Nominate Trump.” Political Communication 33: 677–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Best, Samuel J., and Krueger, Brian S.. 2011. “Government Monitoring and Political Participation in the United States: The Distinct Roles of Anger and Anxiety.” American Politics Research 39: 85117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, Sarah. 2010. “Perceptions of Electoral Fairness and Voter Turnout.” Comparative Political Studies 43: 1601–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canon, David T. 1990. Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts: Political Amateurs in the United States Congress. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Chong, Alberto, De La O, Ana L., Karlan, Dean, and Wantchekon, Leonard. 2014. “Does Corruption Information Inspire the Fight or Quash the Hope? A Field Experiment in Mexico on Voter Turnout, Choice, and Party Identification.” Journal of Politics 77: 5571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Jeffrey E. 2008. The Presidency in the Era of 24-Hour News. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, Timothy E. 1998. Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, Jeremy. 2016. “Trump Reinvigorated by FBI Clinton Probe.” CNN, October 28.Google Scholar
Fiorina, Morris P. 1989. Congress: Keystone of the Washington Establishment. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Gaddie, Ronald Keith, and Dye, Thomas R.. 2018. Politics in America, 11th Edition. New York: Pearson.Google Scholar
Geer, John G. 2012. “The News Media and the Rise of Negativity in Presidential Campaigns.” PS: Political Science & Politics 45: 422–7.Google Scholar
Harris, Mary. 2017. “A Media Post-Mortem on the 2016 Presidential Election.” Mediaquant: The Numbers Behind the News. Available at www.mediaquant.net/2016/11/a-media-post-mortem-on-the-2016-presidential-election.Google Scholar
Hetherington, Marc J. 1999. “The Effect of Political Trust on the Presidential Vote, 1968–96.” American Political Science Review 93: 311–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, Marc J. 2005. Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hibbing, John, and Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. 1995. Congress as Public Enemy: Public Attitudes toward American Political Institutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hibbing, John, and Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. 2002. Stealth Democracy: Americans’ Beliefs about How Government Should Work. Cambridge Studies in Political Psychology and Public Opinion. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hillygus, D. Sunshine. 2005. “Campaign Effects and the Dynamics of Turnout Intention in Election 2000.” Journal of Politics 67: 5068.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, Mason, Lilliana, and Aarøe, Lene. 2015. “Expressive Partisanship: Campaign Involvement, Political Emotion, and Partisan Identity.” American Political Science Review 109: 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, Jeffrey, and Brockington, David. 2005. “Social Desirability and Response Validity: A Comparative Analysis of Overreporting Voter Turnout in Five Countries.” Journal of Politics 67: 825–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kernell, Samuel. 2006. Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Lawrence, Regina G., and Boydstun, Amber E.. 2017. “What We Should Really Be Asking about Media Attention to Trump.” Political Communication 34: 150–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichter, S. Robert, and Noyes, Richard. 1996. Good Intentions Make Bad News: Why Americans Hate Campaign Journalism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Michael, Tomz, Wittenberg, Jason, and King, Gary. 2001. “Clarify: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results.” Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2014. Why Electoral Integrity Matters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2016. “Trump’s Election-Rigging Claim Will Backfire: Here’s the Evidence.” Available at www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/10/21/trumps-election-rigging-claim-will-backfire-heres-the-evidence/?utm_term=.e41a8bf3559a.Google Scholar
Nyhan, Brendan, and Reifler, Jason. 2010. “When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions.” Political Behavior 32: 303–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, Thomas E. 1993. Out of Order, first edition. New York: A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Patterson, Thomas E. 1996. “Bad News, Period.” PS: Political Science & Politics 29: 1720.Google Scholar
Sobieraj, Sarah, and Berry, Jeffrey M.. 2011. “From Incivility to Outrage: Political Discourse in Blogs, Talk Radio, and Cable News.” Political Communication 28: 1941.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorson, Emily. 2016. “Belief Echoes: The Persistent Effects of Corrected Misinformation.” Political Communication 33: 460–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Michael W., and Katosh, John P.. 1979. “Response Validity in Surveys of Voting Behavior.” Public Opinion Quarterly 43: 359–77.10.1086/268527CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentino, Nicholas A., Brader, Ted, Groenendyk, Eric W., Gregorowicz, Krysha, and Hutchings, Vincent L.. 2011. “Election Night’s Alright for Fighting: The Role of Emotions in Political Participation.” Journal of Politics 73: 156–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentino, Nicholas A., Buhr, Thomas A., and Beckmann, Matthew N.. 2001. “When the Frame Is the Game: Revisiting the Impact of ‘Strategic’ Campaign Coverage on Citizens’ Information Retention.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 78: 93112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentino, Nicholas A., Gregorowicz, Krysha, and Groenendyk, Eric W.. 2009. “Efficacy, Emotions and the Habit of Participation.” Political Behavior 31: 307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentino, Nicholas A., Wayne, Carly, and Oceno, Marzia. 2018. “Mobilizing Sexism: The Interaction of Emotion and Gender Attitudes in the 2016 US Presidential Election.” Public Opinion Quarterly 82: 213–35.Google Scholar
Walker, Martin. 2008. “The Year of the Insurgents: The 2008 US Presidential Campaign.” International Affairs 84: 1095–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Christopher. 2013. “Emotions, Campaigns, and Political Participation.” Political Research Quarterly 66: 414–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, Chris, Shah, Dhavan V., Pevehouse, Jon C., Yang, Jung Hwan, Pelled, Ayellet, Boehm, Frederick, Lukito, Josephine, Ghosh, Shreenita, and Schmidt, Jessica L.. 2016. “How Trump Drove Coverage to the Nomination: Hybrid Media Campaigning.” Political Communication 33: 669–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
York, Chance. 2013. “Cultivating Political Incivility: Cable News, Network News, and Public Perceptions.” Electronic News 7: 107–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar