The 9/11 conservative shift

This study analyzes the causal impact of the 9/11 terror attacks on individual political orientation and political support intensity using the German Socio-Economic Panel 1999–2003. Exploiting survey interview timing in 2001 for identification and controlling for unobserved individual heterogeneity,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEconomics letters Vol. 135; pp. 80 - 84
Main Author Schüller, Simone
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2015
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Causal inference
Causality
Impact analysis
Liberalism
Party support
Political behavior
Political orientation
Studies
Terrorism
Germany
Causal inference
Political orientation
Party support
Terrorism
C23
H56
D72
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Summary:This study analyzes the causal impact of the 9/11 terror attacks on individual political orientation and political support intensity using the German Socio-Economic Panel 1999–2003. Exploiting survey interview timing in 2001 for identification and controlling for unobserved individual heterogeneity, I find 9/11 to have increased overall political mobilization. While there is no indication of a considerable switch in support between political blocks, the attacks significantly weakened support intensity among left-wing voters and increased the strength of political support among right-wing voters, indicating a shift in conservative direction. •This study analyzes whether 9/11 induced a conservative shift in political support.•Identification is based on exogenous variation in survey interview timing.•Terror shock decreased political support intensity among left-wing voters.•Strength of support among right-wing voters increased with 9/11.•No switch in support between political blocks.
ISSN:0165-1765
1873-7374
DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2015.07.031