The politics of teachers' union endorsements
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11065151 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael T Hartney (0000-0003-1112-2559, Department of Political Science Boston College Chestnut Hill Massachusetts USA), Vladimir Kogan (0000-0002-9871-4065, Department of Political Science Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1163-1179 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12922 |
| OpenAlex | W4403658677 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 31 |
School board candidates supported by local teachers' unions overwhelmingly win, and we examine the causes and consequences of the “teachers' union premium” in these elections. First, we show that union endorsement information increases voter support. Although the magnitude of this effect varies across ideological and partisan subgroups, an endorsement rarely hurts a candidate's prospects with the electorate. Second, we benchmark the size of the endorsement premium to other well‐known determinants of vote choice in local elections. Perhaps surprisingly, we show the effect can be as large as the impact of shared partisanship, and substantially larger than the boost from endorsements provided by other stakeholders. Finally, examining real‐world endorsement decisions, we find that union support for incumbents hinges on self‐interested pecuniary considerations and is unaffected by performance in improving student academic outcomes. The divergence between what endorsements mean and how voters interpret them has troubling normative democratic implications
Political science · Politics · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy
Political Control and the Power of the Agent
How Teachers' Unions Affect Education Production
Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II
Current Perspectives on Teacher Unionization, and What They’re Missing
The Problem With “Proficiency”
Polarization, Partisan Sorting, and the Politics of Education
Politics, Markets, and Pandemics
The Democratic Deficit in U.S. Education Governance
Election Timing and the Electoral Influence of Interest Groups
Politics in Forgotten Governments
Candidate Choice Without Party Labels
Fit for the Job
Using Conjoint Experiments to Analyze Election Outcomes
Causal Inference in Conjoint Analysis
Do nonpartisan ballots racialize candidate evaluations? Evidence from “Who Said What?” experiments
Evidence of a Local Incumbency Advantage
When Are Local Incumbents Held Accountable for Government Performance? Evidence from US School Districts
What Do We Learn about Voter Preferences from Conjoint Experiments
Election Timing, Electorate Composition, and Policy Outcomes
Polarization in police union politics
Separating the Shirkers from the Workers? Making Sure Respondents Pay Attention on Self‐Administered Surveys
The Determinants of Candidates' Vote Share and the Advantages of Incumbency in City Council Elections
Heuristic Projection
Shortcuts Versus Encyclopedias
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |