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Article
Where Does the Buck Stop? Applying Attribution Theory to Examine Public Appraisals of the President
Presidential Studies Quarterly (2011)
  • Cigdem V. Sirin, University of Texas at El Paso
  • José D. Villalobos, University of Texas at El Paso
Abstract

This study applies attribution theory to examine public appraisals of the president. To date, most political science research on attribution theory has focused on domestic policy and no work has considered both domestic and foreign policy domains in tandem. To fill this gap, we formulate and experimentally test a series of hypotheses regarding the level of responsibility and credit/blame that individuals attribute to the president in both policy domains across varying policy conditions. We also consider how party compatibility affects people’s attribution judgments. Our findings provide a new contribution to the literature on political attributions, executive accountability, and public perceptions of presidential performance.

Keywords
  • President; Attribution Theory; Public Appraisals; Experimentation
Publication Date
June, 2011
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 1999-2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5705.2011.03857.x/abstract
Citation Information
Cigdem V. Sirin and José D. Villalobos. "Where Does the Buck Stop? Applying Attribution Theory to Examine Public Appraisals of the President" Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 41 Iss. 2 (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/cigdemvsirin/7/