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Prior to the 2020 election President Trump suggested the election should be postponed "until the country can make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote." With the COVID‐19 pandemic leading many states to take steps that made it easier for citizens to vote safely, the president and his allies made numerous false claims about voter fraud; others argued that voter fraud is not common and is unlikely to appreciably increase with greater reliance on mail balloting. We rely on a national Internet‐based survey experiment conducted prior to the 2020 election to assess the effectiveness of both messages on citizens' support for a hypothetical proposal to postpone the presidential election. The results suggest that respondents were more likely to support postponement if they received a fake news message that fraud is common. The results also suggest that these effects are conditional; both political party and knowledge moderate the relationship. Related Articles: Aguado, N. Alexander. 2022. "When Charismatic Leadership Trumps Social Networking: Searching for the Effects of Social Media on Beliefs of Electoral Legitimacy." Politics & Policy 50(5): 942–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12494. Fisher, Patrick. 2020. "Generational Replacement and the Impending Transformation of the American Electorate." Politics & Policy 48(1): 38–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12340. Stockemer, Daniel. 2013. "Corruption and Turnout in Presidential Elections: A Macro‐Level Quantitative Analysis." Politics & Policy 41(2): 189–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History tells us that elected leaders who are tainted by scandal often pay a political price for their behavior. In the past few years, such allegations of sexual harassment have engulfed a large number of political (as well as entertainment, business, and even academic) figures. Many were forced to resign their positions, while others chose to end their campaigns for election or reelection. While the great majority of harassment victims are women, there are a few instances where the sex roles have been reversed – and with more women running for and winning public office (and thereby gaining positions of power and authority), it is possible that we will see more such role reversals in the future. Our study uses data from an internet-based survey of registered voters to examine citizens' attitudes about sexual harassment and the extent to which those attitudes shape their reactions when allegations of harassment are made against a fictional member of Congress. With an innovative experimental design, we will examine whether reactions vary with (a) either the target's or the voter's gender or (b) the former's response to the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him/her (denial, apology, counterframe). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on issue ownership examines the topic as an independent variable that may shape campaign strategy or voter behavior. In contrast, our study looks at ownership as a dependent variable. Specifically, we employ a national Internet survey of registered U.S. voters to gauge the extent to which such judgments are influenced by individual‐level factors other than partisan identity. We find that while partisanship shapes ownership beliefs to a considerable degree, policy preferences and performance evaluations have significant effects across a range of valence and position issues. While feelings of ambivalence toward the in‐ or out‐party do not have a consistent effect on ownership beliefs, higher out‐party ambivalence reduces the probability that citizens will identify their own party as owning most issues. It is therefore premature, and probably incorrect, to assume that perceived ownership is little more than an expression of a person's partisan attachment or intended vote. Related Articles: Bernick, Ethan M., and Nathan Myers. 2012. "Issue Salience, Party Strength, and the Adoption of Health‐Care Expansion Efforts." Politics & Policy 40 (1): 131‐159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00340.x Grossmann, Matt. 2014. "The Varied Effects of Policy Cues on Partisan Opinions." Politics & Policy 42 (6): 881‐904. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12102 Kim, Eun Kyung. 2019. "Issue Ownership and Strategic Policy Choice in Multiparty Africa." Politics & Policy 47 (5): 956‐983. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12327 Related Media: Brenan, Megan. 2019. "Democrats Maintain Favorability Edge over Republicans." September 30. https://news.gallup.com/poll/267122/democrats-maintain-favorability-edge-republicans.aspx Hook, Janet. 2018. "Tax Overhaul Remains Unpopular, Poll Shows." April 16. https://www.wsj.com/articles/tax-overhaul-remains-unpopular-poll-shows-1523912555 Pew Research Center. 2015. "GOP's Favorability Rating Takes a Negative Turn." July 23. https://www.people-press.org/2015/07/23/gops-favorability-rating-takes-a-negative-turn/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]