The authentic a**hole: Candidate consistency, causality, and the vote

Breitenstein, Sofia, Kenny, John, Larner, Jac ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5171-8851, Stiers, Dieter and Lewis-Beck, Michael 2025. The authentic a**hole: Candidate consistency, causality, and the vote. Polity: The Journal of the Northeastern Political Science Association 57 (2) 10.1086/734478 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Despite politicians’ authenticity being increasingly invoked in public discourse to explain their electoral fortunes, empirical research on the trait in electoral studies remains nascent. Here we advance our knowledge through a vignette survey experiment carried out on a national British sample. Firstly, we demonstrate that respondents are more likely to perceive a hypothetical politician as authentic when that politician resists political pressure in order to maintain a consistency between their stated policy positions and their political actions. This is the case whether respondents agree with their policy position or not. We also show that a candidate being perceived as authentic carries electoral benefits for them. Furthermore, consistency between a politician’s policy position and their actions enhances citizens’ perception of authenticity, consequently increasing the likelihood that they will vote for that politician. This study contributes to understanding authenticity in politics, offering valuable insights into the causal mechanisms of its electoral implications.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics Schools > Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR) Research Institutes & Centres > Wales Governance Centre (WGCES)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Publisher:	The University of Chicago Press
ISSN:	0032-3497
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	16 January 2025
Date of Acceptance:	10 December 2024
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2025 12:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/175330

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