This document discusses political support at the individual level and reassesses the concept. It covers three main conditions for individual-level political support: awareness of political authorities, awareness of their decisions and policies, and awareness of their goals and behavior. Political support can be based on specific policy actions and perceptions of general performance. It also discusses factors that can act as barriers to political support like cognitive incapacity and issues with measurement. Finally, it briefly outlines different types of legitimacy like traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal legitimacy.

1. POL 375
Spring 2020

3. “A Re-Assessment of the Concept of Political Support”

4.  Individual-Level Support
 Examples: Gallup Job Approval Question
 Conditions:
 (1) Awareness of Political Authorities
 (2) Decisions, Policies, Actions, etc. of Authorities
 (3) Awareness of Goals and Leaders’ Behavior

5.  (1) Specific Policy Actions
 Outputs  Demands
 How well are demands met?
 (2) Perceived General Performance
 Democracies vs. Authoritarian Regimes
 “Dictator’s Dilemma”
▪ Dictators overreach because of lack of reliable support

6.  (1) Cognitive Incapacity
 Lack of Citizen Engagement with Politics
 Lack of Political Knowledge
 Performance-Based Measures
▪ Instrumental Performance
▪ Efforts of authorities to meet policy preferences
▪ Expressive Performance
▪ Authorities seen as qualified individuals
▪ Extraneous Performance
▪ Authorities are likeable (e.g. charisma)
 (2) Measurement Barriers

7.  Generalized and Durable
 Example: “RightTrack” vs. “WrongTrack”
 Attitudes toward government
 Nationalism, Patriotism, etc.
 Offices NOT Officeholders
 Comes from Socialization and Experiences

9.  Traditional Legitimacy
 Ritual and Ceremony
 Monarchial Rule
 Charismatic Legitimacy
 Personal Appeal
 Transient Nature
 Rational-Legal Legitimacy
 Rules and Norms
 PowerThrough Elections

10.  Accountability and Efficiency
 Transparency in Government
 Consumer Sentiment on Economy
 Congressional/Presidential Approval Ratings
 Gallup’s “Most Important Problem”
 Freedom House: Political Rights, Civil Liberties