Public attitudes toward presidential veto powers

Abstract

Previous research on presidential powers has demonstrated predictable variation in the level of support for presidential usage of those powers. However, much of this work has focused solely on unilateral powers. Here, we seek to further explore public attitudes towards constitutionally prescribed powers-namely that of the executive veto. Using original survey data, we find that public support of the president's use of the veto is dependent on respondent partisanship as well as approval of both the president and Congress. Overall, our findings provide some support for previous research on the topic, but also offer new insights. First, we find a higher baseline level of support for presidential powers. Second, our results indicate that the president's copartisans are more supportive of the veto even after controlling for presidential and congressional approval.

Presidents’ Vetoes and Audience Costs

“…In addition, education has a negative and statistically significant relationship with support for a veto. This differs from Reeves and Rogowski’s () and Sievert and Williamson’s () finding that higher levels of education are associated with higher levels of support for the veto. This makes sense because their question asked respondents to agree or disagree: “The president should not be able to veto legislation that has been passed by both chambers of Congress.” Those with higher levels of education would be more likely to know that the Constitution gives the president this power.…”

“…The question remains whether this partisan‐conditioned support for a veto changes based on which party holds the presidency. Reeves and Rogowski () and Sievert and Williamson’s () found that Democrats were more likely to favor the president’s ability to use a veto. While their question about the veto directs respondents to think “about the Office of the Presidency—and not any particular president,” a Democrat held the presidency at the time and this could influence Democrats’ higher support.…”

“…In sum, the public does not like for occupants of the office to act unilaterally. Yet when Sievert and Williamson () asked respondents the extent to which they agreed with this use of the veto in the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, they found a majority supported use of this power.…”

“… Even abstract questions appear to find respondents consulting their partisanship in deciding what they think about the president’s veto authority (Reeves and Rogowski ; Sievert and Williamson ). …”