Managing Blame: An Experimental Test of the Effects of Political Accounts

Abstract

Public officials are not passive bystanders in the electoral process. Rather, they actively try to shape or manage citizens' perceptions of events (particularly those involving negative outcomes) through explanations or accounts. I argue that consideration of citizens' understandings of political accountability and how these are shaped by public officials represent critical missing components of models of electoral behavior. The distinction between excuses and justifications provides a valuable conceptual framework for understanding the impact of political accounts on a variety of judgments and psychological processes. I examine satisfaction with various excuses and justifications and their impact on subsequent evaluations of the official.

Anticipatory and reactive forms of blame avoidance: of foxes and lions

“…Under particular circumstances, actors can also anticipate the blameworthiness of an event and try to prepare for it in order to protect their goals (Arnold, 1990;McGraw, 1991). When an issue enjoys intensified public attention for a while, when policies force responsible officeholders to take unpopular decisions, or when officeholders are appointed by their superiors to deal with difficult policy problems, they quickly realize that they have to work under dangerous conditions and that damage may be significant if something goes wrong.…”

Gun Policy, Opinion, Tragedy, and Blame Attribution: The Conditional Influence of Issue Frames

“…Voters are more likely to punish or reward political leaders for their personal financial situation if they connect government economic policy to their own pocketbooks. In a similar manner, elected officials may be able to manipulate voters' perceptions-and subsequent credit or blame-of policy decisions, the consequences of policy choices, and even personal scandal by providing causal explanations, accounts, or "interpretations" of events (McGraw 1991;McGraw, Best, and Timpone 1995). However, the literature has neglected the potential impact of alternative depictions of blame for tragic events on citizens' attributions of responsibility for these events.…”

“…Gun issues thus pose a particularly stringent test of framing. Second, elected officials appear less responsive to public opinion on gun issues, suggesting that elites may be making a greater effort to lead public opinion rather than follow (Lindaman and Haider-Markel 2000), heightening the import of issue framing (Jones 1994;McGraw 1991;McGraw, Best, and Timpone 1995). Finally, gun issues received significant electoral attention in several high-profile state ballot initiatives as well as the 2000 presidential campaigns and have been dramatically magnified by recent tragedies (Kuczynski 1999;Lindaman and HaiderMarkel 2000;Lloyd 1999;Pierpoint 2000;Wagar 1999aWagar , 1999b).…”

Retributive Justice: Its Social Context

“…McGraw (1991) has provided a useful classification of excuses and justifications. Excuses entail offering reasons involving past or present mitigating circumstances, horizontal or vertical diffusion of responsibility and pleas of ignorance.…”