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Politicians Appear More Competent When Using Numerical Rhetoric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2017

Rasmus T. Pedersen
Rasmus T. Pedersen*
Affiliation:
Department of Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School; email: rtp.dbp@cbs.dk
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Abstract

Politically relevant numbers often have very limited effects on the policy attitudes of ordinary citizens, which make the widespread use of numbers by politicians somewhat puzzling. This paper argues that politicians’ numerical rhetoric may function as a voter heuristic and that the use of numbers by politicians therefore has a positive impact on voters’ perceptions of these politicians. A survey experiment confirms that even when numbers do little to move voters’ policy positions, numbers do have the effect of making politicians appear more competent. As a consequence, numerical rhetoric can in some cases increase electoral support for a politician.

Keywords

Public opinionvoting behaviorvoter heuristicscandidate traitssurvey experiments
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Experimental Political Science , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , Summer 2017 , pp. 129 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © The Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2017 

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