scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Eric Schickler

Other affiliations: Yale University, Harvard University
Bio: Eric Schickler is an academic researcher from University of California, Berkeley. The author has contributed to research in topics: Politics & Liberalism. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 65 publications receiving 3491 citations. Previous affiliations of Eric Schickler include Yale University & Harvard University.


Papers
More filters
Book
01 Sep 2002
TL;DR: Partisan Hearts and Minds as discussed by the authors is an authoritative study that demonstrates that identification with political parties powerfully determines how citizens look at politics and cast their ballots. And it is the most important theoretical contribution to the study of partisanship in the last two decades.
Abstract: In this authoritative study, three political scientists demonstrate that identification with political parties powerfully determines how citizens look at politics and cast their ballots. "Partisan Hearts and Minds is a profound breakthrough in our understanding of partisan loyalties and makes a major contribution to the study of political attitudes and voting behavior."-Paul Abramson, Michigan State University "This book will be influential the moment it appears. It will be the starting point for all further treatments of the topic."-Richard Johnston, University of British Columbia "The grounding of partisanship in social identities is the most important theoretical contribution to the study of partisanship in the last two decades."-Morris P. Fiorina, Stanford University

1,155 citations

Book
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the history of institutional change in the United States from the 1890s to the 1990s and the role of party government in these changes. But they do not discuss the relationship between party government and institutional change.
Abstract: List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1. Disjointed Pluralism and Institutional Change 3 Chapter 2. Institutional Development, 1890-1910: An Experiment in Party Government 27 Chapter 3. Institutional Development, 1919-1932: Cross-Party Coalitions, Bloc Government, and Republican Rule 85 Chapter 4. Institutional Development, 1937-1952: The Conservative Coalition, Congress against the Executive, and Committee Government 136 Chapter 5. Institutional Development, 1970-1989: A Return to Party Government or the Triumph of Individualism? 189 Chapter 6. Understanding Congressional Change 249 Epilogue. Institutional Change in the 1990s 270 Appendix A. Case Selection 277 Appendix B. Votes Pertaining to Institutional Changes in Each Period 281 Notes 295 References 329 Index 349

477 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors used state-level exit polls and Census data to estimate the partisan preferences of non-voters in Senate elections and then simulate the outcome of these elections under universal turnout, finding that the gap between voters and nonvoters' partisan preference varies considerably across states and across years, suggesting that this partisan differential warrants further examination.
Abstract: The conventional wisdom among journalists and politicians is that higher turnout would benefit Democrats, although extant scholarly research suggests otherwise. We adopt a new approach to assessing the partisan impact of higher turnout. We use state-level exit polls and Census data to estimate the partisan preferences of nonvoters in Senate elections and then simulate the outcome of these elections under universal turnout. While nonvoters are generally more Democratic than voters, the dearth of close races means that very few election outcomes would have changed had everyone voted. Other scenarios—full turnout among registered voters, equal turnout rates for whites and African-Americans, and equal turnout rates across income groups—generate similar results: although Democrats fare better in each scenario, few outcomes would have changed. However, the gap between voters and nonvoters’ partisan preference varies considerably across states and across years, suggesting that this “partisan differential” warrants further examination.

232 citations

Book
26 Mar 2006
TL;DR: Wawro and Schickler as mentioned in this paper argue that in a system where filibusters played out as wars of attrition, the threat of rule changes prevented the institution from devolving into parliamentary chaos.
Abstract: Parliamentary obstruction, popularly known as the "filibuster," has been a defining feature of the U.S. Senate throughout its history. In this book, Gregory J. Wawro and Eric Schickler explain how the Senate managed to satisfy its lawmaking role during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when it lacked seemingly essential formal rules for governing debate. What prevented the Senate from self-destructing during this time?The authors argue that in a system where filibusters played out as wars of attrition, the threat of rule changes prevented the institution from devolving into parliamentary chaos. They show that institutional patterns of behavior induced by inherited rules did not render Senate rules immune from fundamental changes. The authors' theoretical arguments are supported through a combination of extensive quantitative and case-study analysis, which spans a broad swath of history. They consider how changes in the larger institutional and political context - such as the expansion of the country and the move to direct election of senators - led to changes in the Senate regarding debate rules. They further investigate the impact these changes had on the functioning of the Senate. The book concludes with a discussion relating battles over obstruction in the Senate's past to recent conflicts over judicial nominations.

165 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine competing explanations for House rules changes with significant partisan overtones and identify all rules changes adopted from 1867 to 1998 that were intended either to advantage or to undermine the majority party and its leaders in their efforts to shape the House agenda.
Abstract: I examine competing explanations for House rules changes with significant partisan overtones. I sought to identify all rules changes adopted from 1867 to 1998 that were intended either to advantage or to undermine the majority party and its leaders in their efforts to shape the House agenda. I test a majority party cartel model of institutional change against a model that focuses on the ideological balance of power on the floor, that is, on the closeness of the median voter to the median member of the majority and minority parties. I also evaluate the conditional party government approach. The data analysis suggests the preeminent importance of shifts in the ideological balance. Two variables identified by the conditional party government theory, party polarization and party capacity, obtain limited support, but their effect is neither as robust nor as large in magnitude as that of change in the median voter's position.

131 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John Zaller (1992) as discussed by the authors is a model of mass opinion formation that offers readers an introduction to the prevailing theory of opinion formation.
Abstract: Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1994, Vol 39(2), 225. Reviews the book, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John Zaller (1992). The author's commendable effort to specify a model of mass opinion formation offers readers an introduction to the prevailing vi

3,150 citations

MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the political economy of skills in comparative-historical perspective is discussed, and the evolution and change in the German system of vocational training is discussed. But the evolution of skill formation in Germany is not discussed.
Abstract: 1. The political economy of skills in comparative-historical perspective 2. The evolution of skill formation in Germany 3. The evolution of skill formation in Britain 4. The evolution of skill formation in Japan and the United States 5. Evolution and change in the German system of vocational training 6. Conclusions, empirical and theoretical.

1,860 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that exposure to messages attacking the out-group reinforces partisans' biased views of their opponents, and that partisan affect is inconsistently (and perhaps artifactually) founded in policy attitudes.
Abstract: The current debate over the extent of polarization in the American mass public focuses on the extent to which partisans’ policy preferences have moved. Whereas "maximalists" claim that partisans’ views on policies have become more extreme over time (Abramowitz 2010), "minimalists" (Fiorina and Abrams 2009) contend that the majority of Americans remain centrist, and that what little centrifugal movement has occurred reflects sorting, i.e., the increased association between partisanship and ideology. We argue in favor of an alternative definition of polarization, based on the classic concept of social distance (Bogardus 1947). Using data from a variety of sources, we demonstrate that both Republicans and Democrats increasingly dislike, even loathe, their opponents. We also find that partisan affect is inconsistently (and perhaps artifactually) founded in policy attitudes. The more plausible account lies in the nature of political campaigns; exposure to messages attacking the out-group reinforces partisans’ biased views of their opponents.

1,494 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors reconstructs the concept of critical junctures, delimits its range of application, and provides methodological guidance for its use in historical institutional analyses, and addresses specific issues relevant to both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of critical junction points.
Abstract: The causal logic behind many arguments in historical institutionalism emphasizes the enduring impact of choices made during critical junctures in history. These choices close off alternative options and lead to the establishment of institutions that generate self-reinforcing path-dependent processes. Despite the theoretical and practical importance of critical junctures, however, analyses of path dependence often devote little attention to them. The article reconstructs the concept of critical junctures, delimits its range of application, and provides methodological guidance for its use in historical institutional analyses. Contingency is the key characteristic of critical junctures, and counterfactual reasoning and narrative methods are necessary to analyze contingent factors and their impact. Finally, the authors address specific issues relevant to both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of critical junctures.

1,301 citations