Conventional wisdom has it that the state of the economy drives public support for governments.
Yet the relationship between economic performance and mass opinion appears to vary in strength and direction across time and across countries. To answer this question, Blaming the Government examines the impact of macroeconomic conditions on public support for the government in Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. The author maintains that theories that seek to relate economic conditions to public tupport require the systematic incorporation of a country's politics and political context. The assignment of credit and blame for economic performance is structured by political institutions that provide for the choices available to citizens. Anderson's carefully crafted analyses of how economic and political variables interact to influence the dynamics of party support in five countries are theoretically important and empirically well-grounded.