Abstract
This chapter focuses on how individuals perceive the causes of economic issues, such as poverty and the general state of the economy. There is a long history of blaming the poor for their own poverty in the US due to its capitalist system, which rests on individualism and the idea that a person can succeed through his or her own merits. However, studies have shown that conservatives are more likely to endorse causes of poverty that blame the poor themselves, experience less sympathy toward the poor, and be inclined against offering help, either personally or through welfare, whereas liberals are more inclined to endorse societal causes of poverty, blame the poor less, experience more sympathy, and be more favorable toward offering help. The effects of perceptions of the state of the economy are complex, but there is evidence that voting decisions are influenced by blame of political actors for a bad economy, such that one would vote against a candidate who is held responsible. This effect, however, is limited by the tendency for partisans to prefer to blame the other party and hold their own as blameless. Nonetheless, politicians use a variety of techniques in an attempt to avoid blame.
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Sahar, G. (2023). Economic Issues. In: Blame and Political Attitudes. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20236-0_2
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