Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge Core

It is widely assumed that celebrities are imbued with political capital and the power to move opinion. To understand the sources of that capital in the specific domain of sports celebrity, we investigate the popularity of global soccer superstars. Specifically, we examine players’ success in the Ballon d’Or—the most high-profile contest to select the world’s best player. Based on historical election results as well as an original survey of soccer fans, we find that certain kinds of players are significantly more likely to win the Ballon d’Or. Moreover, we detect an increasing concentration of votes on these kinds of players over time, suggesting a clear and growing hierarchy in the competition for soccer celebrity. Further analyses of support for the world’s two best players in 2016 (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) show that, if properly adapted, political science concepts like partisanship have conceptual and empirical leverage in ostensibly non-political contests.

Agrawal, Jagdish and Kamakura, Wagner A.. 1995. “The Economic Worth of Celebrity Endorsers: An Event Study Analysis.” Journal of Marketing 59(3): 56–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Anderson, Christopher J. and Sally, David F.. 2013. The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar

Anderson, Christopher J., Blais, André, Bowler, Shaun, Donovan, Todd, and Listhaug, Ola. 2005. Losers’ Consent: Elections and Democratic Legitimacy . New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Arendt, Hannah. 1970. On Violence. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.Google Scholar

Atkinson, Matthew D. and DeWitt., Darin 2018. “Does Celebrity Issue Advocacy Mobilize Issue Publics?” Political Studies 67(1): 83–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Atkinson, Matthew and DeWitt, Darin. 2016. “Celebrity Political Endorsements Matter.” Celebrity Studies 7(1): 119–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Berelson, Bernard R., Lazarsfeld, Paul F., and McPhee, William N.. 1954. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar

Boorstin, Daniel J. 1972. The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America . New York: Atheneum.Google Scholar

Bowers, Anne and Prato, Matteo. 2018. “The Structural Origins of Unearned Status: How Arbitrary Changes in Categories Affect Status Position and Market Impact.” Administrative Science Quarterly 63(3): 668–699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Boyle, Raymond and Haynes, Richard. 2000. Sport, the Media, and Popular Culture. New York: Longman.Google Scholar

Brockington, Dan. 2014. Celebrity Advocacy and International Development. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Burden, Barry C. and Klofstad, Casey A.. 2005. “Affect and Cognition in Party Identification.” Political Psychology 26(6): 869–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Buscombe, Edward, ed. 1975. Football on Television: BFI Television Monograph 4. London: British Film Institute.Google Scholar

Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1960. The American Voter . New York: Wiley.Google Scholar

Carnes, Nicholas and Lupu, Noam. 2016. “Do Voters Dislike Working-Class Candidates? Voter Biases and the Descriptive Underrepresentation of the Working Class.” American Political Science Review 110(4): 832–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Clarke, John. 1978. “Football and Working Class Fans: Tradition and Change.” In Football Hooliganism: The Wider Context, ed. Ingham, Roger, 37–60. London: Inter-Action Imprint.Google Scholar

Cooper, Andrew. 2008. Celebrity Diplomacy. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.Google Scholar

Coppock, Alexander, Leeper, Thomas J., and Mullinix, Kevin J.. 2018. “Generalizability of Heterogeneous Treatment Effect Estimates Across Samples.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(49): 12441–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Critcher, Chas. 1979. “Football since the War.” In Working Class Culture: Studies in History and Theory, eds. Clarke, John, Critcher, Chas, and Johnson, Richard, 161–184. London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar

Deloitte. 2017. Annual Review of Football Finance: Ahead of the Curve. Manchester, UK: Deloitte, Sports Business Group.Google Scholar

Dixon, Kevin. 2013. “Learning the Game: Football Fandom Culture and the Origins of Practice.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 48(3): 334–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Dolan, Kathleen. 2014. “Gender Stereotypes, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting for Women Candidates: What Really Matters?” Political Research Quarterly 67(1): 96–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Dolan, Paul, Kavetsos, Georgios, Krekel, Christian, Mavridis, Dimitris, Metcalfe, Robert, Senik, Claudia, Szymanski, Stefan, and Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2016. “The Host with the Most? The Effects of the Olympic Games on Happiness.” London School of Economics and Political Science, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No. 1441, July.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Driessens, Olivier. 2013. “The Celebritization of Society and Culture: Understanding the Structural Dynamics of Celebrity Culture.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 16(6): 641–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Duke, Vic. 2002. “Local Tradition versus Globalisation: Resistance to the McDonaldisation and Disneyisation of Professional Football in England.” Football Studies 5(1): 5–23.Google Scholar

Farrell, Kathleen A., Karels, Gordon V., Monfort, Kenneth W., and McClatchey, Christine A.. 2000. “Celebrity Performance and Endorsement Value: The Case of Tiger Woods.” Managerial Finance 26(7): 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Fechtig, Beate. 1995. Frauen und Fußball. Berlin: Ebersbach & Simon.Google Scholar

Fiske, John. 1987. Television Culture. London: Routledge.Google Scholar

Frank, Robert H. and Cook., Philip J. 1996. Winner Take All Society: Why the Few At the Top Get So Much More Than the Rest of Us . New York: Penguin.Google Scholar

Friedman, Uri. 2014. “Why Americans Call Soccer ‘Soccer’: The British started it.” The Atlantic, June 13.Google Scholar

Galeano, Eduardo. 2003. Soccer in the Sun and Shadow. New York: Verso.Google Scholar

Garthwaite, Craig and Moore, Timothy J.. 2013. “Can Celebrity Endorsements Affect Political Outcomes? Evidence from the 2008 US Democratic Presidential Primary.” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 29(2): 355–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Gilens, Martin and Page, Benjamin I.. 2014. “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.” Perspectives on Politics 12(3): 564–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Ginsburgh, Victor and Noury, Abdul G.. 2008. “The Eurovision Song Contest: Is Voting Political or Cultural?” European Journal of Political Economy 24(1): 41–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Giulianotti, Richard. 1999. Football: A Sociology of the Global Game. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar

Giulianotti, Richard. 2002. “Supporters, Followers, Fans and Flaneurs: A Taxonomy of Spectator Identities in Football.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 26(1): 25–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Giulianotti, Richard. 2005. “Sport Spectators and the Social Consequences of Commodification: Critical Perspectives from Scottish Football.” Journal of Sport & Social Issues 29(4): 386–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Goldblatt, David. 2008. The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer . New York: Penguin/Riverhead Books.Google Scholar

Green, Donald, Palmquist, Bradley, and Schickler, Eric. 2002. Partisan Hearts and Minds . New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar

Greene, Steven. 1999. “Understanding Party Identification: A Social Identity Approach.” Political Psychology 20(2): 393–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Healy, Andrew J., Malhotra, Neil, and Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung. 2010. “Irrelevant Events Affect Voters’ Evaluations of Government Performance.” PNAS July, 107(29): 12804–09.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Hornby, Nick. 1992. Fever Pitch: A Fan’s Life . London: Gollancz.Google Scholar

Horne, John, Tomlinson, Alan, Whannel, Garry, and Woodward, Kath. 1999. Understanding Sport: An Introduction to the Sociological and Cultural Analysis of Sport. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar

Huddy, Leonie, Mason, Lilliana, and Aarøe, Lene. 2015. “Expressive Partisanship: Campaign Involvement, Political Emotion, and Partisan Identity.” American Political Science Review 109(1): 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Hutchings, Vincent L. and Valentino., Nicholas A. 2004. “The Centrality of Race in American Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 7: 383–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Iyengar, Shanto, Sood, Gaurav, and Lelkes, Yphtach. 2012. “Affect, Not Ideology: A Social Identity Perspective On Polarization.” Public Opinion Quarterly 76(3): 405–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Kavetsos, Georgios and Szymanski, Stefan. 2010. “National Well-Being and International Sports Events.” Journal of Economic Psychology 31(2): 158–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Kittilson, Miki Caul. 2006. Challenging Parties, Changing Parliaments: Women and Elected Office in Contemporary Western Europe . Columbus: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar

Kuper, Simon. 1994. Football Against the Enemy. London: Orion.Google Scholar

Kuper, Simon and Szymanski, Stefan. 2018. Soccernomics. New York: Nation Books.Google Scholar

Lawless, Jennifer L. and Fox, Richard L.. 2004. “Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office.” American Journal of Political Science 48(2): 264–80.Google Scholar

Lawrence, Regina G. and Boydstun, Amber E.. 2017. “Celebrities as Political Actors and Entertainment as Political Media.” In How Political Actors Use the Media: A Functional Analysis of the Media’s Role in Politics, eds. Van Aelst, Peter and Walgrave, Stefaan, London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar

Lenz, Gabriel S. 2012. Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians’ Performance and Policies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Leeper, Thomas J. and Slothuus, Rune. 2014. “Political Parties, Motivated Reasoning, and Public Opinion Formation” Political Psychology 35(1): 129–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Lupia, Arthur. 2016. Uninformed: Why People Know So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Markovits, Andrei S. and Rensmann., Lars 2010. Gaming the World: How Sports Are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Marsh, David, Hart, Paul ‘t, and Tindall, Karen. 2010. “Celebrity Politics: The Politics of the Late Modernity?” Political Studies Review 8(3): 322–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Marshall, P. David. 2014. Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Marshall, P. David. 2015. “Celebrity and Public Persona.” Oxford Bibliographies in Communication. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Miguel, Edward, Saiegh, Sebastián M., and Satyanath, Shanker. 2011. “Civil War Exposure and Violence.” Economics & Politics 23(1): 59–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Morgan, Simon. 2011. “Celebrity: Academic ‘Pseudo-Event’ or a Useful Concept for Historians?” Cultural and Social History 8(1): 95–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Nownes, Anthony J. 2012. “An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Celebrity Support for Political Parties in the United States.” American Politics Research 40(3): 476–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Partzsch, Lena. 2015. “The Power of Celebrities in Global Politics.” Celebrity Studies 6(2): 178–-91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Partzsch, Lena. 2017. “Powerful Individuals in a Globalised World.” Global Policy 8(1): 5–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Partzsch, Lena. 2018. “Take Action Now: The Legitimacy of Celebrity Power in International Relations.” Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 24(2): 229–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Pease, Andrew and Brewer, Paul R.. 2008. “The Oprah Factor: The Effects of a Celebrity Endorsement in a Presidential Primary Campaign.” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 13(4): 386–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Prior, Markus. 2005. “News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science 49(3): 577–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Prior, Markus. 2007. Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Sala, Brian R., Scott, John T., and Spriggs, James F.. 2007. “The Cold War on Ice: Constructivism and the Politics of Olympic Figure Skating Judging.” Perspectives on Politics 5(1): 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Scannell, Paddy. 2014. Television and the Meaning of Live . Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar

Smart, Barry. 2005. The Sport Star: Modern Sport and the Cultural Economy of Sporting Celebrity . London: Sage.Google Scholar

Spierdijk, Laura and Vellekoop, Michel. 2009. “The Structure of Bias in Peer Voting Systems: Lessons From the Eurovision Song Contest.” Empirical Economics 36(2): 403–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Street, John. 2004. “Celebrity Politicians: Popular Culture and Political Representation.” British Journal of Politics and International Relations 6(4): 435–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Street, John. 2012. “Do Celebrity Politics and Celebrity Politicians Matter?” British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14(4): 346–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Street, John. 2018. “What Is Donald Trump? Forms of ‘Celebrity’ in Celebrity Politics.” Political Studies Review 17(1): 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Street, John, Inthorn, Sanna, and Scott, Martin. 2015. From Entertainment to Citizenship: Politics and Popular Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Taylor, Ian. 1971. “Soccer Consciousness and Soccer Hooliganism.” In Images of Deviance, ed. Cohen, Stanley, 134–163. Harmondsworth, UK: Pelican.Google Scholar

Tsaliki, Liza, Frangonikolopoulos, Christos A., and Huliaras, Asteris, eds, 2011. Transnational Celebrity Activism in Global Politics: Changing the World? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar

Weber, Max. 1978/1922. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Edited by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar

West, Darrell M. and Orman, John M.. 2003. Celebrity Politics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar

Whannel, Garry. 1992. Fields in Vision: Television Sport and Cultural Transformation . London: Routledge.Google Scholar

Whannel, Garry. 1998. “Individual Stars and Collective Identities in Media Sport.” Sport, Popular Culture and Identity, vol. 5 , ed. Roche, Maurice, 23–36. Aachen, Germany: Meyer & Meyer.Google Scholar

Wheeler, Mark. 2013. Celebrity Politics: Image and Identity in Contemporary Political Communications . Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar

Williams, Jean. 2003. A Game for Rough Girls: The History of Women’s Football in Britain . London, Routledge.Google Scholar

Wilson, Jonathan. 2013. Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics . New York: Nation Books.Google Scholar

Wood, Matthew, Corbett, Jack, and Flinders, Matthew. 2016. “Just Like Us: Everyday Celebrity Politicians and the Pursuit of Popularity in an Age of Anti-Politics.” British Journal of Politics and International Relations 18(3): 581–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Zaller, John. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar