The Myth of the Independent Voter

The Myth of the Independent Voter

Author: Bruce E. Keith

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1992-06-17

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 0520077202

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Debunking conventional wisdom about voting patterns and allaying recent concerns about electoral stability and possible third party movements, the authors uncover faulty practices that have resulted in a skewed sense of the American voting population.


Political Behavior of the American Electorate

Political Behavior of the American Electorate

Author: Elizabeth A. Theiss-Morse

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2018-01-11

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1506367720

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The 2016 elections took place under intense political polarization and uncertain economic conditions, to widely unexpected results. How did Trump pull off his victory? Political Behavior of the American Electorate, Fourteenth Edition, attempts to answer this question by interpreting data from the most recent American National Election Study to provide a thorough analysis of the 2016 elections and the current American political behavior. Authors Elizabeth Theiss-Morse and Michael Wagner continue the tradition of Flanigan and Zingale to illustrate and document trends in American political behavior with the best longitudinal data available. The authors also put these trends in context by focusing on the major concepts and characteristics that shape Americans’ responses to politics. In the completely revised Fourteenth Edition, you will explore get-out-the-vote efforts and the reasons people voted the way they did, as well as the nature and impact of partisanship, news media coverage, and other issues in 2016—all with an eye toward understanding the trends that led up to the historic decision.


The Disappearing American Voter

The Disappearing American Voter

Author: Ruy A. Teixeira

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2011-10-01

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780815723202

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The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy. To millions around the world who have fought for that right, it is considered a privilege. Yet the magnitude of nonvoting in America is staggering. More than 91 million Americans did not vote in 1988, putting voter turnout at barely half of the voting-age population. This situation has stirred much comment and debate across the political spectrum, raising several questions: Why is voter turnout generally so low? Why has it declined steadily over the past three decades? Does low and declining turnout significantly bias the nature of contemporary U.S. politics? And what, if anything, can be done to increase voter participation? In this book, Ruy Teixeira addresses each of these question in detail in an effort to provide policymakers and the general public with a clearer view of the problem and possible solutions. The author's interpretations and recommendations are both provocative and firmly based on currently available data. Teixeira includes an assessment of current registration reform legislation and shows why a combination of registration reform and political reform is necessary to fully reverse the nonvoting trend and move to substantially higher turnout levels. He points out that while it is unlikely U.S. voter turnout will ever approach levels in Sweden, Australia, and Belgium—which are about 90 percent—with a thorough reform program, levels of around 70 percent, such as those in Japan and Canada, may be attainable.


Presidential Mandates

Presidential Mandates

Author: Patricia Heidotting Conley

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2001-07-15

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780226114828

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Presidents have claimed popular mandates for more than 150 years. How can they make such claims when surveys show that voters are uninformed about the issues? In this groundbreaking book, Patricia Conley argues that mandates are not mere statements of fact about the preferences of voters. By examining election outcomes from the politicians' viewpoint, Conley uncovers the inferences and strategies—the politics—that translate those outcomes into the national policy agenda. Presidents claim mandates, Conley shows, only when they can mobilize voters and members of Congress to make a major policy change: the margin of victory, the voting behavior of specific groups, and the composition of Congress all affect their decisions. Using data on elections since 1828 and case studies from Truman to Clinton, she demonstrates that it is possible to accurately predict which presidents will ask for major policy changes at the start of their term. Ultimately, she provides a new understanding of the concept of mandates by changing how we think about the relationship between elections and policy-making.


The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior

The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior

Author: Jan E. Leighley

Publisher: Oxford University Press (UK)

Published: 2012-02-16

Total Pages: 796

ISBN-13: 0199604517

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The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are the essential guide to the study of American political life in the 21st Century. With engaging contributions from the major figures in the field The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior provides the key point of reference for anyone working in American Politics today


American Presidential Elections

American Presidential Elections

Author: Harvey L. Schantz

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1996-04-25

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1438418841

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This book analyzes presidential elections over the sweep of American history, studies the 1992 presidential election, and examines the impact of presidential elections on the U.S. political system and society. It is guided by three basic questions: Are the fifty-two elections in U.S. history a set of discrete events, or are there patterns among them? Are some elections more important than others? And what is their impact on political parties, public policy, and society? The authors compare and contrast presidential elections in order to understand better their individual dynamics. An extensive introduction thoroughly grounds readers in the processes of presidential selection; Milton C. Cummings, Jr. charts the dynamics of the 1992 election, describes the pattern of the vote, and contrasts the outcome with those of 1984 and 1988; Gerald M. Pomper analyzes state-level presidential election results and evaluates the effectiveness of political parties in the democratic process; David R. Mayhew tests the link between elections and major policy change, looking at the impact of divided government on politics and policymaking at the national level; Everett C. Ladd analyzes the impact of postindustrial society on parties and the electoral system; and Harvey L. Schantz examines sectional voting patterns in presidential elections from 1824 to 1992.


The American Voter Revisited

The American Voter Revisited

Author: Michael S. Lewis-Beck

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2009-12-18

Total Pages: 514

ISBN-13: 0472025139

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Today we are politically polarized as never before. The presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 will be remembered as two of the most contentious political events in American history. Yet despite the recent election upheaval, The American Voter Revisited discovers that voter behavior has been remarkably consistent over the last half century. And if the authors are correct in their predictions, 2008 will show just how reliably the American voter weighs in, election after election. The American Voter Revisited re-creates the outstanding 1960 classic The American Voter---which was based on the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956---following the same format, theory, and mode of analysis as the original. In this new volume, the authors test the ideas and methods of the original against presidential election surveys from 2000 and 2004. Surprisingly, the contemporary American voter is found to behave politically much like voters of the 1950s. "Simply essential. For generations, serious students of American politics have kept The American Voter right on their desk. Now, everyone will keep The American Voter Revisited right next to it." ---Larry J. Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of A More Perfect Constitution "The American Voter Revisited is destined to be the definitive volume on American electoral behavior for decades. It is a timely book for 2008, with in-depth analyses of the 2000 and 2004 elections updating and extending the findings of the original The American Voter. It is also quite accessible, making it ideal for graduate students as well as advanced undergrads." ---Andrew E. Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center "A theoretically faithful, empirically innovative, comprehensive update of the original classic." ---Sam Popkin, Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego Michael S. Lewis-Beck is F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Iowa. William G. Jacoby is Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. Helmut Norpoth is Professor of Political Science at Stony Brook University. Herbert F. Weisberg is Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University.


The Emerging Republican Majority

The Emerging Republican Majority

Author: Kevin P. Phillips

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-11-23

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 1400852293

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One of the most important and controversial books in modern American politics, The Emerging Republican Majority (1969) explained how Richard Nixon won the White House in 1968—and why the Republicans would go on to dominate presidential politics for the next quarter century. Rightly or wrongly, the book has widely been seen as a blueprint for how Republicans, using the so-called Southern Strategy, could build a durable winning coalition in presidential elections. Certainly, Nixon's election marked the end of a "New Deal Democratic hegemony" and the beginning of a conservative realignment encompassing historically Democratic voters from the South and the Florida-to-California "Sun Belt," in the book’s enduring coinage. In accounting for that shift, Kevin Phillips showed how two decades and more of social and political changes had created enormous opportunities for a resurgent conservative Republican Party. For this new edition, Phillips has written a preface describing his view of the book, its reception, and how its analysis was borne out in subsequent elections. A work whose legacy and influence are still fiercely debated, The Emerging Republican Majority is essential reading for anyone interested in American politics or history.