TY - JOUR
T1 - From Bonus to Burden
T2 - The Cost of Ruling From a New(s) Perspective
AU - Thesen, Gunnar
AU - Green-Pedersen, Christoffer
AU - Mortensen, Peter Bjerre
PY - 2024/11
Y1 - 2024/11
N2 - Studies have repeatedly documented the cost of ruling: governing parties generally suffer electoral defeats. We approach this empirical law of political science from the perspective of another empirical law: the incumbency bonus, the fact that incumbents get more media attention than the opposition. Our claim is that the bonus constitutes an electoral liability because it reflects the critical approach of media to government power. News featuring incumbents is therefore associated with a more negative tone than news featuring the opposition. This incumbency burden in turn affects government support negatively. Empirically, we draw on an extensive news corpus covering four European countries over two decades, combined with monthly poll data. Analyses show that the incumbency burden in political news is an empirical reality, and that variations in the burden contribute substantially to predictions of government support. Finally, the negative burden effect is stronger for single-party cabinets, but stable throughout government tenure.
AB - Studies have repeatedly documented the cost of ruling: governing parties generally suffer electoral defeats. We approach this empirical law of political science from the perspective of another empirical law: the incumbency bonus, the fact that incumbents get more media attention than the opposition. Our claim is that the bonus constitutes an electoral liability because it reflects the critical approach of media to government power. News featuring incumbents is therefore associated with a more negative tone than news featuring the opposition. This incumbency burden in turn affects government support negatively. Empirically, we draw on an extensive news corpus covering four European countries over two decades, combined with monthly poll data. Analyses show that the incumbency burden in political news is an empirical reality, and that variations in the burden contribute substantially to predictions of government support. Finally, the negative burden effect is stronger for single-party cabinets, but stable throughout government tenure.
KW - cost of ruling
KW - government support
KW - incumbency bonus
KW - incumbency burden
KW - political news
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85188074206&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1475-6765.12670
DO - 10.1111/1475-6765.12670
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0304-4130
VL - 63
SP - 1601
EP - 1621
JO - European Journal of Political Research
JF - European Journal of Political Research
IS - 4
ER -