The American Nonvoter

The American Nonvoter

Author: Lyn Ragsdale

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-04-24

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0190670738

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A diverse body of research exists to explain why eligible voters don't go to the polls on election day. Theories span from the psychological (nonvoters have limited emotional engagement with politics and therefore lack motivation), to the social (politics is inherently social and nonvoters have limited networks), and the personal (nonvoters tend to be young, less educated, poor, and highly mobile). Other scholars suggest that people don't vote because campaigns are uninspiring. This book poses a new theory: uncertainty about the national context at the time of the election. During times of national crisis, when uncertainty is high, citizens are motivated to sort through information about each candidate to figure out which would best mitigate their uncertainty. When external uncertainty is low, however, citizens spend less time learning about candidates and are equally unmotivated to vote. The American Nonvoter examines how uncertainty regarding changing economic conditions, dramatic national events, and U.S. international interventions influences people's decisions whether to vote or not. Using rigorous statistical tools and rich historical stories, Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk test this theory on aggregate nonvoting patterns in the United States across presidential and midterm elections from 1920 to 2012. The authors also challenge the stereotype of nonvoters as poor, uneducated and apathetic. Instead, the book shows that nonvoters are, by and large, as politically knowledgeable as voters, but see no difference between candidates or view them negatively.


The American Nonvoter

The American Nonvoter

Author: Lyn Ragsdale

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0190670711

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The American Nonvoter examines how uncertainty regarding the national context influences people's decisions whether to vote or not. During times of national crisis, when uncertainty is high, voting increases; during times of stability people stay home. Using rigorous statistical tools and rich historical stories, Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk show how uncertainty in the national campaign context reduces nonvoting in presidential and midterm elections from 1920 to 2012.


The American Political Science Review

The American Political Science Review

Author: Westel Woodbury Willoughby

Publisher:

Published: 1916

Total Pages: 918

ISBN-13:

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American Political Science Review (APSR) is the longest running publication of the American Political Science Association (APSA). It features research from all fields of political science and contains an extensive book review section of the discipline.


American Politics

American Politics

Author: Peter J. Woolley

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13:

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This book was designed to provide readers with the tools to be intelligent evaluators of American political dialogue.This collection of classic and contemporary readings exposes students/readers to the great arguments of American politics and helps them 1) learn how to arrange -- and rearrange -- facts, 2) identify the core arguments of public affairs, 3) evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various theories of American politics, and 4) apply those theories to current problems. Combining both core readings in political science and recent arguments on current controversies in each chapter, it shows the continuity of political debates over decades and centuries and requires students/readers to come to their own conclusions while evaluating evidence and arguing over theory.