K354, CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138
How Federalism Plus Polarization Create Distrust in American Elections
You’re invited to join Thad Kousser, professor of political science and co-director of the Yankelovich Center at UC San Diego, for an American Politics Speaker Series discussion sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Center for American Political Studies.
Registration is encouraged but not required. This event series will not be recorded.
This event is open to Harvard ID holders only. Lunch will be served.
Abstract
The Constitution grants states the power to manage elections, yet this poses formidable challenges in polarized and partisan state contexts. Despite non-partisan election officials using consistent methods for ballot protection nationwide, voters often rely on their knowledge of policy conflicts to gauge trust in other states’ elections. Through a nationally representative survey, we find that trust in one’s own state elections exceeds trust in those of other states. This gap is more pronounced for California and Texas, known for one-party ideological control. A survey experiment demonstrates that non-partisan messages from these states’ officials can boost trust across state and party boundaries. Texas messaging enhances trust in Texas elections for Californians and Coloradans, while California messaging builds trust in California elections for Texans and Georgians. Strikingly, this trust boost occurs regardless of respondents’ party affiliations, indicating that a robust public information campaign could mitigate polarized trust in election integrity across states.
About the Series
The American Politics Speaker Series (APSS) aims to bring together scholars who are doing research on these and other important questions. Hosted jointly with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and chaired by Professors Benjamin Schneer and Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, each session will highlight a scholar whose research is at the forefront of the study of American politics.