The Perot Candidacy and Attitudes toward Government and Politics

• Author: Jeffrey Koch
• Published date: 01 March 1998
• Date: 01 March 1998
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591299805100106
• Subject Matter: Articles

141

The

Perot

Candidacy

and

Attitudes

toward

Government

and

Politics

JEFFREY

KOCH,

SUNY,

GENESEO

Prior

studies

of

third-party

movements

document

both

an

individual-

and

aggregate-level

relationship

between

disatisfaction

with

government

and

its

leaders

and

third

party

support.

Unfortunately,

these

studies

are

unable

to

determine

whether

citizen

dissatisfaction

precedes

third-party

support

or

if

third-party

support

results

in

heightened

negativity

toward

the

political

system.

Using

American

National

Election

Study

data

to

ex-

amine

1992

Perot

voters,

I

demonstrate

that

the causal

direction

is

from

third-party

support

to

decreased

trust

in

government

and

external

effi-

cacy.

Additionally,

this

research

reveals

that

the

Perot

campaign

increased

voter

turnout

in

1992

by

enhancing

citizens’

interest

in

that

year’s

cam-

paigns

and

strengthening

the

relationship

between

interest

in

campaigns

and

voter

turnout.

These

findings

indicate

that

American

third

party

movements

can

perform

the

mobilizing

and

mentoring

functions

com-

monly

associated

with

the

major

parties.

H.

Ross

Perot’s

1992

presidential

candidacy

represents

one

of

the

most

serious

third

party

challenges

in

American

political

history,

and

thus

provides

a

unique

opportunity

to

study

the

forces

that

give

rise

to

third

party

move-

ments

as

well

as

their

effects

on

citizens’

political

dispositions

and

behavior.

In

this

research

three

questions

with

respect

to

the

causes

and

consequences

of

Perot’s

third

party

challenge

are

addressed.

First,

did

Perot

supporters,

rela-

tive

to

those

who

voted

for

the

major

party

candidates,

possess

a

distinctive

set

of

political

orientations

toward

the

federal

government

and

its

leaders

prior

to

the

1992

election,

suggesting

fertile

ground

existed

for

a

third

party

chal-

lenge ?

Or,

contrariwise,

did

Perot’s

candidacy

alter

the

political

orientations

of

his

supporters,

producing

distinctions

between

his

supporters

and

those of

NOTE:

I

wish

to

thank

this

journals’

editors

and

reviewers

for

their

valuable

comments.

I

alone

am

responsible

for

any

remaining

errors.