TY - JOUR
T1 - Determinants of presidential approval ratings
T2 - Cross-country analyses with reference to Latin America
AU - Jung, Ji Won
AU - Oh, Jinhwan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Despite a conventional belief that prosperity boosts presidential popularity, research on the effect of economic and political factors on presidential popularity shows wide variation. What are the main contributing factors when people evaluate their political leaders? How do economic conditions and perception of corruption influence people’s evaluations of their political leaders? Using comprehensive, up-to-date panel data covering 20 countries, mostly from Latin America, and also including South Korea and the United States, from 1988 to 2016, this study shows that the effect of gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate and unemployment rate are strong throughout the period considered. From the year 2000, inflation and perception of corruption become significant. In highly corrupt countries, however, the significance of corruption becomes more salient, together with GDP growth rate and unemployment rate, as citizens of these countries begin to evaluate their leaders in terms of their determination to address these problems. In countries with low approval ratings, voters generally weigh GDP growth rate more heavily.
AB - Despite a conventional belief that prosperity boosts presidential popularity, research on the effect of economic and political factors on presidential popularity shows wide variation. What are the main contributing factors when people evaluate their political leaders? How do economic conditions and perception of corruption influence people’s evaluations of their political leaders? Using comprehensive, up-to-date panel data covering 20 countries, mostly from Latin America, and also including South Korea and the United States, from 1988 to 2016, this study shows that the effect of gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate and unemployment rate are strong throughout the period considered. From the year 2000, inflation and perception of corruption become significant. In highly corrupt countries, however, the significance of corruption becomes more salient, together with GDP growth rate and unemployment rate, as citizens of these countries begin to evaluate their leaders in terms of their determination to address these problems. In countries with low approval ratings, voters generally weigh GDP growth rate more heavily.
KW - determinants
KW - Latin America
KW - panel data
KW - Presidential approval
KW - regression analyses
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077159360&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2233865919888373
DO - 10.1177/2233865919888373
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077159360
VL - 23
SP - 251
EP - 267
JO - International Area Studies Review
JF - International Area Studies Review
SN - 2233-8659
IS - 3
ER -