It's the Central Government's Fault: Elected Regional Officials' Use of Blame-Shifting Rhetoric

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mortensen, Peter B.
• 署名单位: Aarhus University
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01585.x
• 发表日期: 2012
• 关键词: consequences; attention; POLITICS; denmark; POLICY; logit

摘要

This article investigates regional officials' use of blame-shifting rhetoric in times of heated public criticism of unpopular regional policy decisions. Based on a content coding of nearly 500 political accounts from elected regional officials it is shown that it's the central government's fault is the most frequently used excuse when regional officials publicly defend unpopular decisions to cut public health care. The article finds that this excuse is used more by regional leaders (mayors and chairmen of regional boards) than by other elected officials and that partisan competition affects how often this excuse is used.