Issue Ownership and Economic Perceptions: Is the Economy “Better” under Republicans?

Economic perceptions are biased by partisanship, as citizens perceive a stronger economy when their party is in power. This research note considers a second partisan bias, by which the Republican Party's association with business and capitalism may lead to more favora-ble economic perceptions under its leadership. I study this first at the presidential level, applying time series analyses to 1,577 survey toplines from 1985 to the present. The results show no overall effect of Republican presidencies on economic perceptions—and no condi-tional effects based on honeymoon periods, time in office, approval rating, news economic sentiment, or economic conditions. I then turn to five surveys about state-level conditions conducted between 1986 and 2016, and find that Republican governors do not elicit stronger economic ratings either. These findings highlight the limits of issue ownership: reputational advantages may shape prospective voting, but they do not appear to influ-ence the way people assess conditions.