òòò½Íø Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Pandering in the Shadows: How Natural Disasters Affect Special Interest Politics
òòò½Íø Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 17,
no. 3, August 2025
(pp. 441–70)
Abstract
We exploit the quasi-random timing of natural disasters to study the connection between public attention to politics and legislators' support for special interests. We show that when a disaster strikes, the news media reduce coverage of politics in general and of individual legislators in particular, and members of the House of Representatives become significantly more likely to adopt special interest donors' positions. The evidence implies that politicians are more inclined to take actions benefiting special interests when the public is distracted. More broadly, our findings suggest that attention to politics improves electoral accountability even in an environment with stringent transparency requirements.Citation
Kaplan, Ethan, Jörg L. Spenkuch, and Haishan Yuan. 2025. "Pandering in the Shadows: How Natural Disasters Affect Special Interest Politics." òòò½Íø Journal: Economic Policy 17 (3): 441–70. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230783Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- L82 Entertainment; Media
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming