Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: How do individuals interpret interest group cues to make informed voting decisions that are aligned with their partisan identities and ideologies? In the 2020 election cycle, Californians voted on a ballot proposition that concerned the employment status of gig economy workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers. In a manner uncharacteristic of most policy issues, votes for and against the measure did not neatly align with partisan identities. I conduct a content analysis of newspaper coverage and paid social media advertising and find that voters received potentially imbalanced exposure that favored arguments by app-based companies and their allies. I theorize that voters were persuadable due to low attitude crystallization and a new information environment with respect to independent contractor status as a policy issue. To test this, I conduct an experiment among self-identifying Democrats in which I expose them to a series of cue-taking treatments from businesses and labor unions regarding legislation on an independent contractor status policy (low attitude crystallization) or a paid family/medical leave program (high attitude crystallization). The results support my theory and suggest that, despite a half-century of decline, labor unions’ endorsements continue to serve as a compass to guide individual voter decision-making towards progressive positions.
Source: Political Behavior
Author: Daniel R. Daneri
Institution: Syracuse University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,990
Award: G6016448198
OpenAlex ID: W4409157686