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Avoiding Blame: An Experimental Investigation of Political Excuses and Justifications

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  • McGraw, Kathleen M.

Abstract

Success and even survival in politics frequently depends on the ability of politicians and public officials to extricate themselves from various types of predicaments. Indeed, politicians are particularly adept at extricating themselves, with a wide range of explanations at their disposal to avoid blame for unpopular actions and decisions. However, there has been little systematic research on the effectiveness of various political blame-avoidance strategies. This Note has two purposes. First, a typology of blame-avoidance strategies, or accounts, is developed. Second, the results of an experiment examine the effectiveness of these various accounts in enhancing evaluations of a hypothetical public official are reported.

Suggested Citation

  • McGraw, Kathleen M., 1990. "Avoiding Blame: An Experimental Investigation of Political Excuses and Justifications," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 119-131, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:20:y:1990:i:01:p:119-131_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Sten Hansson, 2018. "The discursive micro-politics of blame avoidance: unpacking the language of government blame games," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(4), pages 545-564, December.
    2. Hossfeld, Heiko, 2018. "Legitimation and institutionalization of managerial practices. The role of organizational rhetoric," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 9-21.
    3. Ignacio Lago-Peñas & Santiago Lago-Peñas, "undated". "Explaining Budgetary Indiscipline: Evidence From Spanish Municipalities," Working Papers 21-04 Classification-JEL , Instituto de Estudios Fiscales.
    4. Lago-Peñas, Santiago & Lago-Peñas, Ignacio, 2013. "La atribución de responsabilidades políticas en Estados descentralizados [The atribution of political responsibilities in decentralized countries]," MPRA Paper 45045, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Andreas Schedler, 1998. "The Normative Force of Electoral Promises," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 10(2), pages 191-214, April.
    6. Le Anh Nguyen Long & Megan Foster & Gwen Arnold, 2019. "The impact of stakeholder engagement on local policy decision making," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(4), pages 549-571, December.
    7. J. Michael Angstadt, 2020. "Applying Stone in a Western Landscape: Ranchers, Conservationists, and Causal Stories in the “American Serengeti”," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(2), pages 244-259, March.
    8. Ching Leong & Michael Howlett, 2017. "On credit and blame: disentangling the motivations of public policy decision-making behaviour," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(4), pages 599-618, December.
    9. Gary Fooks & Anna Gilmore & Jeff Collin & Chris Holden & Kelley Lee, 2013. "The Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility: Techniques of Neutralization, Stakeholder Management and Political CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 283-299, January.

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