THIS JUST IN: POLS KEEP PROMISES
There’s an old saying in journalism: When dog
bites man, that’s not a story, because that’s what dogs just
naturally do. When man bites dog, now that’s a story! Maybe this mindset explains why the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sent us a “news
flash” announcing that political candidates tend to honor their
campaign promises.
This startling discovery comes courtesy of Tracy
Sulkin, a research fellow in UIUC’s Cline Center for Democracy and a
professor in the departments of both political science and communication.
She and her assistants analyzed hundreds of TV ad storyboards used in 1998,
2000 and 2002 congressional campaigns and coded them for statements on 18
issues. They then compared the advertised promises to legislation the
winners subsequently sponsored or co-sponsored, and found a significant
correlation. Sulkin says she wasn’t surprised.
“It’s one of the things that probably
surprises the punditry and public, but if you think about why candidates
discuss issues, it’s because those are the issues they’re
interested in and that they’ve pursued in the past,” she says.
What does her research suggest for the presidential
campaigns? Sulkin won’t bite.
“I didn’t study presidential
promise-keeping,” she says, adding that other studies suggest that
“they do indeed try to do what they said they would in the
campaign.”
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2008.
