A Signaling Model of Informative and Manipulative Political Action
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3365451 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susanne Lohmann (0000-0002-1478-4534, Stanford University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 319-333 |
| Publication date | 1993-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2939043 |
| OpenAlex | W2105416454 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 201 |
| References cited | 37 |
I develop a signaling model of mass political action. I establish that rational, self-interested individuals may have incentives to engage in costly political action despite a free-rider problem. Their political actions are informative for a political leader who rationally takes a cue from the size of the protest movement. However, some information is trapped in extremist and rationally apathetic pockets of the society. Some extremists take political action regardless of their private information, to manipulate the political leader's decision. Others abstain hoping to benefit if the leader makes an uninformed decision. Rationally apathetic moderates abstain because, being nearly indifferent between the policy alternatives, they do not find it worthwhile to incur the cost of taking action. Only activist moderates take informative political action. The political leader discounts the observed turnout for extremist political action and shifts policy if the estimated number of activist moderates exceeds a critical threshold
Action (physics · Collective action · Computer security · Economics · Incentive · Law and economics · Microeconomics · Political action · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Private information retrieval · Turnout · Voting · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Game Theory and Applications · Law · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Psychology · Social Psychology
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The Impact of Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Social Movement Organizations on Public Policy
Regulatory Capture
Collective Action
Global Diffusion of Protest
Responsive Authoritarianism in China
Voting Behavior and Information Aggregation in Elections With Private Information
Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement
From Extreme to Mainstream
Social Media and Protest Participation
Silver Signals
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Where Did the Revolution Go
The persistence of political myths and ideologies
State surveillance and collective dissent
CSR as Hedging Against Institutional Transition Risk
Interest Organizations, Information, and Policy Innovation in the U.S. Congress 1 2
A Model of Protests, Revolution, and Information
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Global Diffusion of Protest
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The Mobilizing Potential of Mass Emigration
The Media Agenda‐Setting Role of Protests in Nondemocratic Regimes
A Formal Model of Exit and Voice
A Model of Protests, Revolution, and Information
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Sequential Equilibria
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Power in Numbers
The Logic of Collective Action
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
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Political Action
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| Unique citing works | 201 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6,28 |
| Citation span | 1994 - 2026 (33) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 199 |