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Economic Interests, Worldviews and Identities: Theory and Evidence on Ideational Politics

Author

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  • Elliott Ash
  • Sharun Mukand
  • Dani Rodrik
Abstract
We distinguish between ideational and interest-based appeals to voters on the supply side of politics, and integrate the Keynes-Hayek perspective on the importance of ideas with the Stigler-Becker approach emphasizing vested interests. In our model, political entrepreneurs discover identity and worldview “memes” (narratives, cues, frames) that shift beliefs about voters’ identities or their views of how the world works. We identify a complementarity between worldview politics and identity politics and illustrate how they may reinforce each other. Furthermore, we show how adverse economic shocks may result in a greater incidence of ideational politics. We use these results to analyze data on 60,000 televised political ads in U.S. localities over the years 2000 through 2018. Our empirical work quantifies ideational politics and provides support for the key model implications, including the impact of higher inequality on both identity and worldview politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Elliott Ash & Sharun Mukand & Dani Rodrik, 2021. "Economic Interests, Worldviews and Identities: Theory and Evidence on Ideational Politics," CESifo Working Paper Series 9501, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9501
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic interests; identity; narratives; ideational politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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