Issue Salience, Party Strength, and the Adoption of Health‐Care Expansion Efforts

Abstract

This article studies the joint effects of issue salience and party strength on health-care expansion efforts in the American states. We contend that Democrats and Republicans fall back on their traditional policy stances when an issue is highly salient, but when it is less so, policy makers move to the more politically practical policy alternatives. We find that when health care is highly salient, Democrat-controlled states will be more likely to support direct coverage programs, while a Republican-controlled state will be more likely to support tax incentives. During periods of low-issue salience, policy makers are more open to pursuing options less consonant with traditional partisan policy preferences to make progress on the issue. This important contribution to the literature indicates that the level of attention an issue receives can not only affect whether effort is made to address the problem, but the substance of the policy too. abstract Este artículo estudia los efectos conjuntos de la relevancia de un problema y la fuerza de un partido respecto a los esfuerzos de expansión de la cobertura médica en los estados de la unión americana. Nosotros argumentamos que Demócratas y Republicanos mantienen sus posturas políticas tradicionales cuando un problema es altamente relevante, de lo

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