THE POLICY PRIORITY MODEL REVISITED: A NEW EMPIRICAL TEST OF ISSUE SALIENCY

Abstract

This paper aims to extend the game theoretical model presented In The Wartime President: Executive Influence and Nationalizing Politics of Threat. According to the model, war increases the prioritization of national outcomes relative to local outcomes. In effect, legislators compile voting records that more closely reflect the ideology of the president. As a component of this argument, the Policy Priority Model argues that legislators should be responsive to shifts in local issue saliency as well. This paper identifies and analyzes two such cases. However, no evidence in support of the PPM is elicited. As a result, the validity of the model is called into question.