Do unto Others? Public Attitudes of Electoral Interventions by Own Governments

• In Event: Foreign Policy Meddling

Abstract

Although partisan electoral interventions in foreign elections never went away, the 2016 Russian intervention into the U.S. election brought increased attention to the phenomenon. Despite a renaissance of research on the topic, however, few studies have addressed how the publics of intervening states evaluate foreign electoral interventions conducted by their governments, and those that have have focused on the United States. This study reports on a set of survey experiments with audiences drawn from the publics of several major world powers with a record of past meddling. It seeks to explore and compare the determinants of support for such interventions. In particular, this study will investigate whether varying objectives, conditions, and contexts influence support for interventions.

Authors

• Dov H. Levin, University of Hong Kong

• Paul Musgrave, University of Massachusetts