This study explores voter use of unemployment benchmarks to evaluate state officials. It finds voters compare state-level job approval ratings against national standards, indicating benchmarking behavior occurs at the state level. Importantly, this research demonstrates how voter knowledge varies when holding governors and legislators accountable - despite lower individual knowledge about the legislature itself, collective understanding exists.
Data & Methods: Using pooled Cooperative Congressional Election Study survey data from 2006-2016 (N=94,875). The analysis employs regression techniques to examine voter benchmarking across different state institutions.
Key Findings: Voter knowledge requirements for accountability differ significantly between governors and legislatures. Governors benefit more politically when voters understand relative unemployment trends compared to their national counterparts. For the legislature, while individual knowledge is low about its own approval ratings, this gap does not prevent effective collective holding accountable.
This research reveals an interesting asymmetry in voter behavior toward different branches of state government.
