Data and Code for: "Media, Pulpit, and Populist Persuasion: Evidence from Father Coughlin"

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Tianyi Wang, University of Toronto

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Code			07/12/2021 04:28:AM
Data_final			07/12/2021 04:21:AM
Data_input			07/12/2021 04:36:AM
Data_intermediate			07/12/2021 04:22:AM
Maps			05/01/2021 07:18:AM
Results			07/12/2021 04:24:AM
README.docx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document	46.2 KB	07/12/2021 12:38:AM
README.pdf	application/pdf	720 KB	07/12/2021 12:38:AM

Project Citation:

Wang, Tianyi. Data and Code for: “Media, Pulpit, and Populist Persuasion: Evidence from Father Coughlin.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-08-24. https://doi.org/10.3886/E139442V1

Project Description

Summary: I study the political impact of the first populist radio personality in American history. Father Charles Coughlin blended populist demagoguery, anti-Semitism, and fascist sympathies to create a hugely popular radio program that attracted thirty million weekly listeners in the 1930s. I find that exposure to Father Coughlin's anti-Roosevelt broadcast reduced Franklin D. Roosevelt's vote share in the 1936 presidential election. Coughlin's effects were larger among Catholics and persisted after Coughlin left the air. Moreover, places more exposed to Coughlin’s broadcast were more likely to form a local branch of the pro-Nazi German-American Bund and sold fewer war bonds during WWII.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: mass media; chrismatic leader; election; religion

JEL Classification:
      D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
      L82 Entertainment; Media
      N42 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
      Z12 Cultural Economics: Religion

Geographic Coverage: United States

Time Period(s): 1916 – 1972

Collection Date(s): 12/2018 – 11/2020

Data Type(s): census/enumeration data; geographic information system (GIS) data; observational data; survey data; text

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-08-24]

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DDI 2.5

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