Quarterly Journal of Political Science > Vol 12 > Issue 2

An Econometric Evaluation of Competing Explanations for the Midterm Gap

Brian Knight, Brown University, USA, Brian_Knight@brown.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Brian Knight (2017), "An Econometric Evaluation of Competing Explanations for the Midterm Gap", Quarterly Journal of Political Science: Vol. 12: No. 2, pp 205-239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/100.00015008

Publication Date: 06 Sep 2017
© 2017 B. Knight
 
Subjects
Voting Behavior,  Presidential Politics,  Congress
 
Keywords
Midterm gapVoting behaviorPresidential politicsCongress
 

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In this article:
Related literature 
A unified theoretical model 
Empirical approach 
Results 
Midterm gap simulations 
Limitations 
Conclusion 
References 

Abstract

This paper provides a unified theoretical and empirical analysis of three long-standing explanations for the consistent loss of support for the president's party in midterm Congressional elections: (1) a presidential penalty, defined as a preference for supporting the opposition during midterm years, (2) a surge and decline in voter turnout, and (3) a reversion to the mean in voter partisanship. To quantify the contribution of each of these factors, an econometric model is developed in which voters jointly choose whether or not to participate and which party to support in both house and presidential elections. Estimated using ANES data from both presidential and midterm years, the model can fully explain the observed midterm gaps, and counterfactual simulations demonstrate that each factor makes a sizable contribution towards the midterm gap, with the presidential penalty playing the largest role.

DOI:10.1561/100.00015008