Candidate Repositioning, Valence, and a Backfire Effect from Criticism

AuthorAndrew Gooch
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X221125222
Published date01 November 2022
Date01 November 2022
Article
AmericanPoliticsResearch
2022,Vol.50(6)757768
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/1532673X221125222
journals.sagepub.com/home/apr
CandidateRepositioning,Valence,anda
BackreEffectfromCriticism
AndrewGooch
1
Abstract
Politicianswhoswitchpolicypositionsareoftencriticizedforbeinginconsistentip-oppers,whichsuggestsavalencepenalty
forrepositioning.Usingasurveyexperimentwithsixtreatmentconditionsandasampleof2694respondents,resultsshowthat
candidatesreceiveanincreaseinfavorabilityandperceivedcompetencywhenholdingaconsistentpositiononasylumseekers
fromthecampaigntoholdingofce.Repositioningonasylumseekersreducesfavorabilityandperceivedcompetency.However,
intreatmentconditionswherethecandidateiscriticizedforip-oppingbyunelectedgroups,candidatefavorabilityimproves
relativetoatreatmentconditionwhereonlytherepositioningispresented.Theseresultssuggestthatabackreeffectmight
occurfromcriticisms.Thisbackreoccursonaverageacrossallrespondents.Thisstudycontributestothelineofresearchthat
showsmechanismsthatoffsetthenegativeeffectsofrepositioning.
Keywords
repositioning,experiment,valence,backreeffect
AnenduringpartofAmericanpoliticsincludespoliticians
repositioningfromonesideofanissuetoanotherthroughout
theircareers,oftendubbednegativelyasip-opping.
Whenrepositioningoccurs,politiciansareoftencriticizedfor
it,andtheconventionalwisdomisthatitcannegativelyaffect
theirelectoralprospects.Evenbeforethetermip-opping
becameinvogue,criticismsofrepositioningwereassociated
withthetermwafing,whichoriginatedasacriticismof
JimmyCarterforwafingandwigglingonissues(Allgeier
etal.,1979).Repositioningisalsocriticizedintermsof
valencebypoliticaleliteswhererepositioningcreatesa
credibilitygapforcandidates(Spragens,1980).Salient
examplesofrepositioninghavetheirownrichhistoryand
speciccircumstances,whicharenotexactlyreplicatedhere,
butthepervasivenessofcriticismsforip-oppingincon-
temporarypoliticssuggeststhatrepositioningcomeswitha
reputationalcost.Thisstudyevaluateshowcitizensrespond
toacandidatewhorepositionsintheshorttermfroma
campaigntotakingofce.Morecrucially,thisstudyevalu-
ateshowcitizensareaffectedbycriticismsofip-opping
fromunelectedgroupslikethemedia,voters,andactivists.
Dothesecriticismsfurtherreducethepopularityofcandi-
dates?Or,dotheybackreandactuallyhelptheip-opping
candidate?
Repositioningisalsoanenduringpartofpoliticalscience
research.Downs(1957)arguedthatindividualscareabout
statementsmadeduringcampaignsonlyinsofarasthose
statementsserveasguidestothepoliciesthatpartywillcarry
outinofce(107).Candidateswhowanttomaximizetheir
voteshareshouldholdaconsistentpositionfromonetime
periodtoanothersothattheirpolicystatementsarereliable
(Downs,1957).Consistentpositioningalsobenetstheparty
brand,whichinturninuencesacandidateselectoralsuccess
(Snyder&Ting,2002).However,isolatingtheeffectof
repositioningonacandidateselectoralprospectsiscon-
foundingbecauserepositioningoccursatthesametimeas
manyotherpotentiallycausalfactors.Inaddition,thenature
ofeachrepositioningcasehastimeperiod-specicfeatures
makinggeneralizationsdifcult.Thismakesattributing
electoralsuccessorfailuretorepositioningconfounding
usingobservationaldata.Inaddition,successfulpoliticians
donotrepositionhaphazardlyorrandomly.Switchingpo-
sitionstypicallyoccurbecausethepoliticianbelievestheyare
advantagedbydoingsoforavarietyofpossiblereasons,
perhapsbecauseconstituents,donors,and/orinterestgroups
supportthenewposition(e.g.,Karol,2009).Previousre-
searchersrecognizedthesethreatstocausality,andasaresult,
researchhasfocusedonisolatingspecicaspectsofre-
positioningusingexperiments.Mostexperimentalresearch
1
RowanUniversity,Glassboro,NJ,USA
CorrespondingAuthor:
AndrewGooch,PoliticalScienceandEconomics,RowanUniversity,201
MullicaHillRoad,Glassboro,NJ08028,USA.
Email:gooch@rowan.edu

Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI

Get Started for Free

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT