The Reagan Question: Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Eight Years Ago?

This paper updates Ronald Reagan's famous question during the 1980 presidential election: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" by comparing the state of the economy in 2000 and 2008. We use 25 indicators of economic well-being and economic performance and find that 23 of the 25 indicators are worse in 2008 than they were in 2000. Even after we limit comparisons to similar points across the business cycle, the same 23 indicators were worse at the most recent business-cycle peak (2007) than they were in 2000

The Reagan Question: Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Eight Years Ago?

This paper updates Ronald Reagan's famous question during the 1980 presidential election: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" by comparing the state of the economy in 2000 and 2008. We use 25 indicators of economic well-being and economic performance and find that 23 of the 25 indicators are worse in 2008 than they were in 2000. Even after we limit comparisons to similar points across the business cycle, the same 23 indicators were worse at the most recent business-cycle peak (2007) than they were in 2000.recession, business cycle

Media Priming in the 1980 Presidential Election.

This study will focus on a specific election, the 1980 presidential race. Through an examination of the media coverage, key issues, and the candidates, this research will provide a context for the statistical analysis that follows. This research explores the impact of media and other determinants of candidate assessment and vote choice. The findings in this study not only support the argument that news affects elections but also clarify the exact nature of that influence. The research uses the theory of priming as its theoretical base. The American National Election Study Survey for the 1980 presidential election is the data set, and logit and regression analysis is the methodological approach. Results of the research indicate that medium influences the effect of priming. In other words, the format of news information matters. Television news exposure benefitted Reagan, and newspaper benefitted Carter. Furthermore, the interaction of ability assessments and media exposure primed respondents to a greater degree than the interaction of issue position and media exposure. Characteristics of the audience or receivers of media also influence opinions. These characteristics are socio-demographic factors like party identification, political interest, willingness to discuss politics, or education. The strength of their influence changes during the course of the campaign. In addition, the research finds that elections are fluid rather than static. As a result, opinions surrounding candidates and vote choice are likely to change as the campaign progresses. The interaction of the campaign and ability assessment appears to prime opinions more than the interaction of issue opinion and the progress of the campaign

Are you better off ; Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, and the 1980 Presidential election

This thesis describes how Ronald Reagan succeeded in carrying Louisiana in the 1980 Presidential election. Initially, pundits predicted the election, both statewide and nationwide, would be a “dead heat” between Reagan and President Jimmy Carter. Southern voters supported Carter, despite his many blunders; many American voters wondered if Reagan would be a competent leader. Reagan had a well-organized campaign and spent plenty of time in Louisiana, considered a pivotal “swing state.” His campaign team prepared speeches, explained issues, and received information and support from state Republican leaders, including Governor David Treen and Congressmen Robert Livingston and Henson Moore. Good local support, coordinated by the national campaign, paid real dividends. This thesis utilizes the Ronald Reagan Campaign Papers at the Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California. These papers were first made available for research in 2008, and include correspondence among campaign staffers, politicians, and some supporters. In addition, this thesis uses network newscasts from the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive. Finally, numerous Louisiana newspapers, including those from rural, suburban, and urban areas, were used for research. Reagan\u27s victory in the 1980 election marked the beginning of a new form of conservatism that stressed economic and social reform via lower taxes, smaller federal government, strong national defense, and opposition to both abortion and homosexual lifestyles. In Louisiana, his win boosted the state\u27s Republican Party, once considered a small minority party with little power in local and state leadership. In addition, the 1980 campaign served as a trial run in Louisiana for Governor Treen, who served as Reagan\u27s Louisiana honorary campaign chair, and former Democratic Governor Edwin Edwards, who served as Carter\u27s Louisiana honorary campaign chair, as these two men faced each other in the 1983 gubernatorial election. Thanks to Reagan\u27s legacy, Louisiana\u27s Republican Party has transformed itself into a strong second party that currently holds most statewide elected offices, federal Congressional seats, and both houses of the state legislature. Though not clear in 1980, today it is clear that the conservative Republican resurgence in American politics defined itself in Louisiana in choices offered by Ronald Reagan in achieving an impressive electoral victory

The determinants of vote choice in Portugal

The Reasoned Action model was applied in Portugal to study the factors which determine vote choice among Portuguese voters. Covering three elections (the 1980 Presidential election, the 1982 Local elections and the 1983 General election) the study was started six years after the Revolution of 25 April 1974 which restored Democracy after 48 years of the Salazar-Caetano Dictatorship. The Reasoned Action model, successfully tested in one American Presidential election and in one British General election, assumes that voting intentions are directly related to a) attitudes towards voting for each candidate or party based on knowledge voters possess about important issues and about the candidates or parties stands on them, and b) social influence factors based on voters' beliefs on the opinions of trusted referents as to whom they should be voting for. The results obtained in the three Portuguese electoral studies give strong support to the thesis that in spite of their undemocratic background Portuguese voters like their American and British counterparts make reasoned choices based on their knowledge of important issues and of the differences between the candidates' or parties' stands on such issues. As in the American and British studies the weight of the attitudinal component of the Reasoned Action model was found to be a much more significant determinant of voting intentions than its social influence component