2026-09-20T00:27:51Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1236342026-06-17T14:43:54Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131022
Adam Berinsky.
Goldberg, Megan Elizabeth.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science
2020-01-23T17:01:47Z
2020-01-23T17:01:47Z
2019
2019
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123634
1136286049
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2019
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 117-131).
Despite increasing nationalization and polarization in state politics, some blue states continue to elect Republican governors, while some red states continue to elect Democratic governors. These minority party governors are out of step with their state's mass ideology and partisanship when research on public opinion and voting behavior suggests that it should be fairly easy for voters to elect officials that match their own ideology by using partisan cues and other information shortcuts. How do these governors win elections and maintain relatively high approval ratings? This dissertation uses data and text from gubernatorial social media accounts from 2009 through 2017 to argue that minority party governors are able to defy electoral odds by distancing themselves from their national party, through the use of language to downplay their partisan identity and ideological moderation, and then emphasize non-ideological valence issues such as the economy, good governance, and public health to shift the focus from issues that are highly partisan.
by Megan Elizabeth Goldberg.
Ph.D.
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science
131 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Political Science.
Hello from the other side; I'll compromise a thousand times : how minority party governors win unlikely elections
How minority party governors win unlikely elections
Thesis
application/pdf
2020-01-23T17:01:46Z
Publication
Doctoral
PoliSci
unknown
unknown
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<Abstract>Despite increasing nationalization and polarization in state politics, some blue states continue to elect Republican governors, while some red states continue to elect Democratic governors. These minority party governors are out of step with their state's mass ideology and partisanship when research on public opinion and voting behavior suggests that it should be fairly easy for voters to elect officials that match their own ideology by using partisan cues and other information shortcuts. How do these governors win elections and maintain relatively high approval ratings? This dissertation uses data and text from gubernatorial social media accounts from 2009 through 2017 to argue that minority party governors are able to defy electoral odds by distancing themselves from their national party, through the use of language to downplay their partisan identity and ideological moderation, and then emphasize non-ideological valence issues such as the economy, good governance, and public health to shift the focus from issues that are highly partisan.</Abstract>
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