International Sporting Championships and Their Effects on Political Approval

Abstract

Do nonpolitical events affect citizens’ approval of their government? Arguments of retrospective voting outside the domain of economics largely analyze negative treatments and the punishment incumbents endure at the polls. Conversely, I ask if citizens reward their incumbents with political approval following nonpolitical, positive experiences. While some studies have examined the impacts of sports on political approval, they primarily focus on local communities in the United States. International studies have analyzed similar effects, but they tend to focus on surges in national pride. Through original analysis of descriptive data, I further the discussion by exploring the effects of international sporting victories on federal political satisfaction. Considering four cases, I find that international sporting championships may produce small, short-term increases in political approval. Comparative results indicate that variable sporting popularities, substate nationalisms & identities, subdivisions of national pride, and evaluation criteria for different political leaders contribute to the magnitude of the effect. Collectively, my findings suggest that incumbent, executive political leaders may enjoy a small reward in federal elections up to and including three months after a nationally associated, international sporting victory.