2021/09/17 by Stefan Müller, Liam Kneafsey · 1 voice · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Sports Analytics and Performance
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/psrm.2021.52
openalex publication_date 2021/09/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Abstract The expectation that voters behave rationally has been challenged through studies suggesting that “irrelevant events” like natural disasters and sports results change voting behavior. We test the effect of irrelevant events by matching candidate-level election results from Irish general (1922–2020) and local elections (1942–2019) with games in the men's Gaelic football and hurling championships, the most popular sports in Ireland. Although Irish citizens care deeply about sports, we fail to find any relationship between match results and support for incumbents or politicians of government parties. These findings hold when applying an “unexpected event during survey design” to two representative surveys. Our results contribute to the literature on political accountability and point to conditional effects of irrelevant events.