ROBERT E. CREW, JR.
Florida State University
DAVID BRANHAM
University of Houston
GREGORY R. WEIHER
University of Houston
ETHAN BERNICK
University of Illinois at Springfield
Political Events in a Model of Gubernatorial Approval

Research on the public approval of American governors has focused almost exclusively on the impact of economic conditions on fluctuations in such approval. This article adds events variables to a model of gubernatorial public approval including the more commonly used economic variables, and tests this model in a time-series analysis in three states. The results suggest that the effect of political events is minimal and mixed. Furthermore, the analysis does not clearly support any general theory of gubernatorial approval. Instead, the factors that influence public support for governors seem to vary across time and state.