Electoral Prospects and Support for Institutional Change in the United States

We are excited to host Indiana University's Eileen Braman of for next week's seminar talk, on Monday, June 12th, at 16:15, in Naftali 527. Eileen is visiting us as a guest of the Center for the Study of the United States, and her talk is titled "Electoral Prospects and Support for Institutional Change in the United States". The talk's abstract follows below. 

The talk will also be broadcast on zoom - please use the following link on the same date and time: https://tau-ac-il.zoom.us/j/8898406343

Electoral Prospects and Support for Institutional Change in the United States

This paper investigates public support for institutional change in the United States. National survey data (Cooperative Elections Study) from before the 2020 election indicate a substantial number of citizens agree we are in a “constitutional crisis.” Additionally, citizens are not hesitant to blame a “flawed system” for problems of governance. Consistent with predictions from prospect theory, analyses indicate that those who expect their party to lose national contests in the 2020 election are more likely to support risky strategies involving constitutional change including amending the constitution and calling for a convention to “rethink the system.” Those who expect to lose the Presidency are also more likely to support changes to executive authority and the Electoral College. Electoral prospects do not work as well to explain support for fundamental changes to Congress or the Supreme Court. The author discusses why electoral prospects might work better to explain some measures involving fundamental government change than others.