Nationalization and Candidate Evaluations

Abstract

Abstract This chapter employs a unique survey experiment to evaluate how voters respond to the greater levels of nationalization in recent years. Partisan endorsements serve as a strong cue for voters’ ideological placement and favorability toward candidates. In short, voters increasingly align their views of candidates with their views of other political actors and are not necessarily evaluating candidates on their own merits. This provides a behavioral explanation for the rise in nationalization, comparable to that of the high nationalization witnessed under the party ballot and other institutional factors throughout most of the 19th century. This finding is especially noteworthy given the obvious similarities in nationalization across the two eras despite the distinct institutional differences.