Debate Reaction Ideal Points

Political Ideology Measurement Using Real-Time Reaction Data

Bibliographic Data

ID6170169
AuthorsDaniel Argyle, Lisa P Argyle (0000-0003-3109-2537, Brigham Young University), Vlad Eidelman, Philip S Resnik (0000-0002-6130-8602, University of Maryland, College Park)
Year2021
Volume12
Issue1
Pages5-28
Publication date2021-04-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueStatistics Politics and Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2151-7509 • E-ISSN: 2194-6299
PublisherDe Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/spp-2020-0012
OpenAlexW3155752577
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited59

Ideal point models have become a powerful tool for defining and measuring the ideology of many kinds of political actors, including legislators, judges, campaign donors, and members of the general public. We extend the application of ideal point models to the public using a novel data source: real-time reactions to statements by candidates in the 2012 presidential debates. Using these reactions as inputs to an ideal point model, we estimate individual-level ideology and evaluate the quality of the measure. Debate reaction ideal points provide a method for estimating a continuous, individual-level measure of ideology that avoids survey response biases, provides better estimates for moderates and the politically unengaged, and reflects the content of salient political discourse relevant to viewers’ attitudes and vote choices. As expected, we find that debate reaction ideal points are more extreme among respondents who strongly identify with a political party, but retain substantial within-party variation. Ideal points are also more extreme among respondents who are more politically interested. Using topical subsets of the debate statements, we find that ideal points in the sample are more moderate for foreign policy than for economic or domestic policy

Data mining · Economics · Ideal (ethics · Ideology · Measure (data warehouse · Point (geometry · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Presidential system · Salient · Sociology · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Mathematics · Media Influence and Politics

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