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Cited by 351Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationTerrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political ViolencePolitical Conflict and Governance

Terrorism and Voting: The Effect of Rocket Threat on Voting in Israeli Elections

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GETMANSKY, ANNA, ZEITZOFF, THOMAS·2014·American Political Science Review
DOI 10.1017/s0003055414000288
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Abstract

How does the threat of becoming a victim of terrorism affect voting behavior? Localities in southern Israel have been exposed to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip since 2001. Relying on variation across time and space in the range of rockets, we identify the effect of this threat on voting in Israeli elections. We first show that the evolution of the rockets’ range leads to exogenous variation in the threat of terrorism. We then compare voting in national elections within and outside the rockets’ range. Our results suggest that the right-wing vote share is 2 to 6 percentage points higher in localities that are within the range—a substantively significant effect. Unlike previous studies that explore the role of actual exposure to terrorism on political preferences and behavior, we show that the mere threat of an attack affects voting.

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  • The subjective perception of an act as terrorism can influence political attitudes ranging from support for military action to shifts in political orientation.

    “Second, the subjective perception of an act as terrorism can influence political attitudes ranging from support for military action to shifts in political orientation (Getmansky and Zeitzoff 2014).”

    From Public Opinion and Cyberterrorism (2023) · cites this paper as Getmansky and Zeitzoff 2014

    The Previous Work section (page unavailable) reports that perceived threat after 9/11 was associated with support for aggressive military action; the Implications section says that living within rocket range influenced voting. But the paper addresses perceived threat from terrorism, not whether subjectively classifying a particular act as terrorism changes attitudes. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
GETMANSKY, A., & ZEITZOFF, T.
Affiliations
  • Reichman University (IL)
  • American University (US)
Corresponding author
  • GETMANSKY, ANNA
  • ZEITZOFF, THOMAS
ORCID
Venue
American Political Science Review
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2014-07-28
Volume
108
Issue
3
Pages
588-604
ISSN
  • 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5943
DOI
10.1017/s0003055414000288
OpenAlex
W1983119133
Cited by
351
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2
FWCI
95.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
  • Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (acceptedVersion)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
Carnegie Mellon University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
Keywords
terrorism, voting behavior, rocket attacks, Gaza Strip, Israeli elections, political preferences, southern Israel

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