Abstract
We revisit the debate over the roles of the public's evaluations of experienced (retrospective) and expected (prospective) economic performance for presidential approval. We argue that formal education mediates the relationship between sentiment about the economy and judgments of presidential performance. An analysis of quarterly presidential approval across education cohorts for the period 1978 to 2008 shows that Americans with lower levels of education respond significantly to past economic performance in evaluating the president. Americans with higher levels of education evaluate presidents in terms of expected long‐run economic performance. Aggregate presidential approval is influenced by responses to multiple economic signals.
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