Using Petrocik's (1996) theory of issue ownership as a point of departure, I develop and test
a theory of “trait ownership” that provides an explanation for the origins of candidate trait …

Conventional wisdom suggests that voters rarely punish politicians for involvement in sex
scandals. Yet, we argue that some voters are likely to hold politicians accountable for their …

Understanding how citizen-consumers form evaluations of public services is critical to
understanding account ability in democratic governance. The task of using citizens' …

Going public to gain support, especially through reliance on national addresses and the
national news media, has been a central tactic for modern presidential public leadership. In …

We propose a theory of democratic backsliding where citizens' retrospective assessment of
an incumbent politician depends on expectations that are endogenous to the incumbent's …

Legitimate political opposition constitutes a key component of any form of liberal democracy,
which has, however, received surprisingly scant attention in the more recent political science …

This article examines how citizens judge the trustworthiness of public officials, focusing on
one aspect of the cognitive process through which trust is assessed. It considers how far …

Die vorliegende Abhandlung ist das Ergebnis einer rund zehnjährigen Beschäftigung des
Autors mit Fragen der politischen Opposition in unterschiedlichen liberalen Demokratien …

Past research holds that if presidents are to increase their success in Congress, they must
set the policy agenda in their favor. But what determines the propensity of presidents to …

As a new president takes power in Russia, this book provides an analysis of the changing
relationship between control of Russian television media and presidential power during the …