Reaction post

Of what use are presidential approval ratings? Are they more or less important today than in presidencies past? To what extent does this barometer of public opinion influence other aspects of politics (e.g., economics, foreign policy, trust in local government). Cite/link to 5 pieces of evidence to back up your claims.

*Note: Reaction posts should be approximately 2 paragraphs in length. 

student reply

4 sentences

Presidential approval ratings were created by George Gallup in the 1920’s.  Since the 20’s it has become a increasingly important and accessible metric. In today’s world the approval rating is widely accepted as a indicator for public mood surrounding the presidency and often influences decision makers such as the president, legislators, campaigns, parties and voters.    

The presidential approval rating is an important metric indeed. Legislatures use the presidential approval rating to gauge the degree to which they can stray or should align with the presidents agenda. Foreign policy decisions both rely on and effect the presidential approval rating. During times of war presidential approval ratings tend to go up but sometimes a drawn out conflict may bring them down. Presidential approval ratings may mirror the degree of trust in local government and overall government or the approval ratings may stand out among public trust in government indicating that the president has a degree of leverage. Presidential approval rating may also correlate with economic metrics and act as indicator of public perception for economic policy.           

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2691858?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/12/presidential-job-approval-ratings-from-ike-to-obama/

https://people.howstuffworks.com/when-presidential-approval-ratings-really-matter.htm

http://people.reed.edu/~gronkep/docs/varprez.html

https://stanfordpress.typepad.com/blog/2018/01/the-presidents-clout.html