By Nelson W. Polsby, Aaron Wildavsky, Steven E. Schier, David A. Hopkins
Brimming with facts and examples from the ancient 2008 election, and laced with previews of 2012, the 13th variation of this vintage textual content deals a whole review of the presidential election procedure from the earliest straw polls and fundraisers to ultimate voter turnout and go out interviews. the most recent edition's complete assurance comprises crusade technique with overviews of the adjustments in crusade finance and the transforming into position of the web. additionally, the 13th variation explores the impact of the forward-creeping presidential nomination technique and the series of electoral occasions. All of those features and the problems themselves are mentioned by way of a big selection of actors within the electoral approach: electorate, curiosity teams, political events, the media, and the applicants themselves. within the ultimate pages, the authors take a broader view of the yank political approach and ongoing strain to reform its associations with the intention to handle perceived imperfections within the electoral technique. The 13th version is a well timed replace to this crucial textual content on American elections.
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Additional resources for Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics
Example text
By separating subjective identification with the working class from belonging to a union, scholars have shown that living in a household with at least one union member creates a strong push toward Democratic allegiance. 5 Black voters and other racial minorities have established themselves as a substantial component of the Democratic coalition over the past forty years. During this time, blacks have remained a relatively constant 12 to 13 percent of the total population. African American voters’ vastly increased contribution to the Democratic vote since the 1960s has been the result of a near doubling of their turnout throughout the nation (thanks largely to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which allowed many southern blacks to vote for the first time), of their high loyalty to the Democratic Party (85 to 90 percent of black voters consistently support Democratic candidates), and of fluctuations in Democratic voting by white voters.
There are always defections, however, and the parties cannot automatically count on all their identifiers to give them unqualified support in every election. Party identification does not translate automatically into party-line voting. Voters may tend to be loyal, but they can also be driven away. A Central Strategic Problem: The Attentiveness of Voters A remarkably consistent picture emerges from the study of American voters over the past several decades: 1. Most voters (about 70 percent, or more than 90 percent if independent “leaners” are included) have a party allegiance, which determines their vote most of the time.
They retain and sometimes exercise their capacity to make contemporary judgments on issues. Either way, their behavior is importantly influenced by the ways in which they are organized into social groups, especially political parties. In the heat of a fall presidential campaign, voters are not always coolly rational in their choices. That makes presidential candidates and parties all the more eager to find a way to reach and influence them. “Persuadable” voters, those not anchored by ideology or party identification and less attentive to politics, become a central campaign focus.
