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Showing papers on "Voting behavior published in 1973"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article assessed the theoretical significance of data on childhood political learning and found no or little association between childhood orientations and the later learning of specific beliefs about the most important political issues of the day.
Abstract: This paper assesses the theoretical significance of data on childhood political learning. Two socialization models are involved. Each confers relevance on childhood learning by linking it with political outcomes. The first is an allocative politics model, which seeks a linkage with policy outputs. The other is a system persistence model, looking toward the stability and continued existence of political systems. Each model incorporates the following assumptions: (a) the primacy principle: childhood learning is relatively enduring throughout life; (b) the structuring principle: basic orientations acquired during childhood structure the later learning of specific issue beliefs.It is this structuring principle which we examined and tested in the present paper. The data show no or little association between childhood orientations and the later learning of specific beliefs about the most important political issues of the day. Our evidence suggests a need to carefully reexamine the basic assumptions and directions of current political socialization research.

156 citations




Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the absence of party leadership and organization, voting is highly unstructured in the Nebraska Legislature as discussed by the authors. And the dimensions of voting that were found are largely unexplainable in terms of standard party and constituency variables.
Abstract: The Nebraska nonpartisan legislature serves as a control setting for testing several hypotheses about the impact of party and constituency on voting behavior in legislative bodies. Specifically, in light of the data obtained from a setting where party identification is present but party leadership and organization are absent, the following hypotheses are examined: that political parties are important in structuring voting behavior because of the influence of party leaders and organization; that party is important because party identification is a surrogate for sets of beliefs and attitudes that distinguish members of one party from another; or that party is important because party differences reflect different constituency bases of the party. In a roll-call analysis of five sessions utilizing Guttman-scaling and regression techniques, it was found that in the absence of party leadership and organization, voting is highly unstructured. Further, dimensions of voting that were found are largely unexplainable in terms of standard party and constituency variables. Thus, party identification and constituency influence appear to be insufficient cues for the organization of legislative voting behavior, in the absence of party leadership.

27 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that television and mass communication's influence on developing political attitudes in children was not included as a source variable in political attitudes and was not considered as a predictor of political attitudes.
Abstract: Relatively little is known about television and mass communication's influence on developing political attitudes in children. Mass communication was not included as a source variable in political s...

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The formation of national political parties in the Jacksonian era is most fashionably described from the point of view of the politicians who formally directed the process as mentioned in this paper, and it is assumed that political issues are largely irrelevant to this process, partly because the political strife of the 1820s is considered to have been a contest of ambitious personalities rather than of issues and partly because it is now almost axiomatic that American political parties are catchall electoral machines designed essentially for nominating and electing candidates.
Abstract: THE formation of national political parties in the Jacksonian era is most fashionably described from the point of view of the politicians who formally directed the process. The story usually tells how politicians, in their quest for office and power, developed organizational machinery capable of winning elections in their various states, while at the national level they formed alliances with powerful political leaders in other states whose cooperation could enable them to win control of the presidency. Political issues are assumed to have been largely irrelevant to this process, partly because the political strife of the 1820s is considered to have been a contest of ambitious personalities rather than of issues and partly because it is now almost axiomatic that American political parties are catchall electoral machines designed essentially for nominating and electing candidates to office. Similarly, the attitudes and interests of the electorate are thought to have had little influence on party formation, since the politicians had apparently mastered the techniques of winning votes and could therefore lead their constituents. These assumptions have, if anything, been strengthened by recent studies of Jacksonian voting behavior, for these usually emphasize that the electorate divided along ethnic and cultural lines and was largely uninfluenced by the political debates and power struggles of the politicians. Leading historians of party formation accordingly have felt justified in ignoring political issues and the responses of the electorate and in slighting the importance of ideology and constituencies, even though they have run the risk of divorcing the growth of a political party from its immediate historical environment.,

16 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the last two decades of political research, the survey studies of voting behavior have achieved perhaps an unparalleled accuracy in the specification and explanation of a dependent political variable-the vote for president as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: During the last two decades of political research, the survey studies of voting behavior have achieved perhaps an unparalleled accuracy in the specification and explanation of a dependent political variable-the vote for president. Theories have been developed and tested at the individual level concerning a host of sociological, psychological, political, and institutional factors thought to give partisan direction to voting in presidential elections. Comparable scholarly attention to individual voting in statewide contests is nowhere apparent. By and large, it is thought that the path to statistical success in the study of state politics lies in the use of aggregate election figures which, unlike national sample surveys, may be delineated by state political boundaries. Aggregate analyses of partisan vote divisions in various statewide contests, however, leave a good deal of confusion in their wake-indeed, skepticism that the theories of individual voting behavior tested in the context of presidential elections hold much relevance for the explanation of individual voting decisions in statewide contests. In 1960, for example, sixteen of the thirty-six states which held either gubernatorial or senatorial elections gave a majority in one of those races to a party other than the party which won the state presidential vote. Kallenbach observes that only 59.7 per cent of state elections during the period 1956 to 1964 produced pluralities for presidential and gubernatorial candidates of the same party when these elections occurred simultaneously.' A variety of computations performed on statewide election

15 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In some nations student protest has a long history; in others recent student outbursts have created problems never before faced by governmental and university authorities as discussed by the authors. And student protests became a world-wide phenomenon during those years.
Abstract: As the most casual perusal of any major newspaper in almost any country between 1964 and 1969 attests, student protests became a world-wide phenomenon during those years. As Lipset (1969: 495) has stated: “Wherever one looks-at stagnant underdeveloped countries like Indonesia, at rapidly expanding, economically successful ones like Japan, at right-wing dictatorships like Spain, at Communist systems such as Czechoslovakia and Poland, and at such Western democracies as Germany, France, Italy, and the United States-one finds aggressive student movements that challenge their governments for not living up to different sets of social ideals.” In some nations student protest has a long history; in others recent student outbursts have created problems never before faced by governmental and university authorities.

14 citations




Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of ethnicity in the voting behavior of Greek-Americans residing in a metropolitan community of the southeastern United States, focusing on intergenerational differences in the relation between ethnicity and ethnic voting.
Abstract: This research examines the role of ethnicity in the voting behavior of GreekAmericans residing in a metropolitan community of the southeastern United States. More specifically, it focuses on intergenerational differences in the rela? tionship between ethnicity ? the feeling of "we-ness" among an immigrant group ? and ethnic voting, here defined as support of an ethnic candidate and traditional affiliation with a political party. Such a relationship is pertinent among Greek-Americans because the 1968 presidential election offered Spiro T. Agnew, a Greek-American, running on a Republican ticket when the majority of his fellow ethnics are Democrats. Consequently, this situation offers an op? portunity to study the relationship between ethnicity and voting along with other important variables, including social mobility, generation, and age.1

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on variations within political systems, rather than looking at variations between political systems and find that political characteristics account for little of the variation in output between political system, and that variation in levels of wealth is usually more powerful predictor.
Abstract: One of the complaints most frequently raised against modern empirical political science is that it overemphasizes political inputs (such as voting behavior) and pays insufficient attention to political outputs (such as allocation of resources). In response to this complaint, a number of political scientists in recent years have focused their attention on the question of whether variations in political inputs are much related to variations in outputs. A considerable literature has grown up around this question, particularly focusing on relationships between variations in electoral competitiveness and variations in public spending patterns across a range of different political systems. Because they are different yet comparable, American states have been the setting for much of this research. In addition to the state policy outputs literature, investigations have been undertaken of variations in outputs among differing jurisdictions within a metropolitan area and between variations in outputs and differing types of city organizational structure. The focus of the research reported on here is somewhat different. Rather than looking at variations between political systems, we focus here on variations within political systems. Without dealing with all of the literature alluded to above, and the myriad criticisms that each attempt has spawned, it seems fair to say that the general conclusion of most researchers has been that political characteristics account for little of the variation in output between political systems, and that variation in levels of wealth is usually a far more powerful predictor. Such a conclusion, however, does not relate to the possible impact of politics on allocational decisions within a single jurisdiction. While the City

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The main reason for the gap between output and insight in the profession lies in the adherence of a substantial number of political scientists, especially of the American vintage, to behavioural methods and models which are often applied to the study of political development in the new states in the same manner as in the studied of developed states.
Abstract: Despite an enormous accumulation of theoretical and empirical literature in the field of political science of developing countries during the last two decades, the profession of political science has not contributed much to our understanding of the process of political development. The main reason for the gap between output and insight in the profession lies in the adherence of a substantial number of political scientists, especially of the American vintage, to behavioural methods and models which are often applied to the study of political development in the new states in the same manner as in the study of developed states. The main argument of this paper is that the political scientist, if he is to obtain better returns on his scholarly efforts, should turn to the theoretical and methodological contributions of other social scientists, especially social anthropologists. With some of the better works of social anthropology as the main focus, three important themes of social anthropological work are consi...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a change of focus from a somewhat static description of structures, rules and regulations, to analyses of voting behavior and correlates thereof, and finally, systematic analyses of patterns of interactions leading to votes and resolutions.
Abstract: As periodic stock–taking efforts would indicate, 1 students of international organizations have become increasingly sophisticated in the methods and techniques used for assessing the dynamics of international efforts at cooperation, and the impact of these efforts on the general stream of international politics. Nowhere has this been more true than in attempts by scholars to come to grips with the political processes acted out in the General Assembly of the United Nations. To para–phrase Keohane, 2 we have come to witness a change of focus from a somewhat static description of structures, rules and regulations, to analyses of patterns of voting behavior (and correlates thereof) to, finally, systematic analyses of patterns of interactions leading to votes and resolutions.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the results of an analysis of the 1968 rapid transit bond issue vote in Los Angeles, California were examined and the simple relationships of the vote to a variety of possible explanatory variables were examined.
Abstract: Analysis of the results of past mass transit bond issues can aid transportation planners in understanding and anticipating voter behavior. This paper reports the results of an analysis of the 1968 rapid transit bond issue vote in Los Angeles, California. The simple relationships of the vote to a variety of possible explanatory variables are first examined. An attempt to assess the relative independent importance of these variables and to offer a partial explanation of the vote using multiple regression analysis is then presented. Variables found to have had the greatest impact on the vote are proximity to the proposed transit system, income-level, and ethnicity. Variables found to have had little or no effect, on the other hand, are population density, age, partisanship, and election turnout rate. The analysis indicates that the frequently used “mood-of-the-electorate” explanation of bond-issue failures in general, and transit proposals in particular, underestimates the quality of the electoral decision. The electorate does make rational distinctions, and future bonding attempts will confront voters capable of perceiving the utility to them of proposed transit systems and voting accordingly. The policy implications of this analysis suggest that the design of future mass transit proposals should, firstly more explicitly attempt to incorporate the preferences of middle-income voters, and secondly, be part of a comprehensive transit plan for the entire metropolitan area.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a seminal study of New York during the Jacksonian period, this article found that the stand of parties on socioeconomic issues had relatively little effect upon bloc voting; far more important were factors that stimulated reference group associations, both positive and negative.
Abstract: HISTORIANS AND POLITICAL SCIENTISTS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY COME to recognize something that was always apparent to grass-roots politicians: a voter's ethnic and religious affiliation is an important determinant of how he casts his ballot. The major substantive fruit of the "behavioral revolution" that is slowly overtaking American political history has been the discovery of cultural roots in voting behavior and a downgrading of economic, class and sectional interpretations. Lee Benson in a seminal study of New York during the Jacksonian period found that the stand of parties on socioeconomic issues had relatively little effect upon bloc voting; far more important were factors that stimulated reference group associations, both positive and negative. Pious Yankees, for example, were attracted to WhigAnti-Masonic appeals for state guided moral reforms; Irish Catholics were hostile.' In complementary studies of the political realignment of the 1890s, Paul Kleppner and Richard Jensen2 pursued the main thrust of Benson's reference group analysis to discover that the polarization of important segments of the voting population of selected Midwestern states between those of "pietistic" religious bent (Methodists and Baptists) against those of more "ritualistic" orientation (e.g., Catholics and Lutherans) was a major force in sustaining the political stalemate that prevailed until the 90s. The political vacillation that accompanied the realignment resulted from the shifting of party allegiance of critical blocs, particularly the German Lutherans, in response to cultural issues but little related to national political debates or

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Stronger, more consistent predictions were obtained from self-prediction and previous behavior for all Ss, regardless of age or sex, and for male first-time voters there was a significant correlation between whether Ss voted and total I-E score.
Abstract: Summary In predicting the voting behavior of 18- or 19-year-old college students voting for the first time and of older college students who had been eligible to vote in a previous election, Rotter's (6) I-E Scale and Mirel's (3) Political Activity Factor derived from that scale were both shown to be of some value but in an inconsistent fashion. The Political Activity Factor was significantly related to whether female voters, both those voting for the first time and those previously eligible to vote, did, in fact, vote, but was not related to the voting behavior of males. For male first-time voters there was a significant correlation between whether Ss voted and total I-E score. This relation was not significant for older male voters or for female voters, however. Stronger, more consistent predictions were obtained from self-prediction and previous behavior for all Ss, regardless of age or sex. Parental voting behavior was not related to the voting of the student subjects.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured the mutual distances of political parties in Finland using percentages of the second and the two last party choices as measures of party distance, and concluded that the perceived party dimensions can be concluded from aggregates of individual assessments for which the parties as such are the stimuli Averaged rank orderings of the parties provide ordinal measures that have been used as inputs for multidimensional scaling techniques.
Abstract: Recent research on political dimensions in the Scandinavian party systems at five non-electorate “levels” of dimensional analysis (content analysis of party programs, content analysis of expressions of party stances on current issues, positions taken by the parliamentary parties as behaving units, roll call analysis and interviews of individual legislators, and interviews with leaders and members of party organizations) justify the rejection of the unidimensional spatial model of party competition. Data on the social structure, attitudes and opinions, and voting behavior of the supporters of different parties provide indirect information about the dimensions of political cleavage. More directly, the “perceived party dimensions” can be concluded from aggregates of individual assessments for which the parties as such are the stimuli Averaged rank orderings of the parties provide ordinal measures that have been used as inputs for multidimensional scaling techniques. An experiment of measuring the mutual distances of political parties in Finland used percentages of the second and the two last party choices as measures of party distance. A qualitative analysis of the exceptions to regular orderings along the basic left/right dimension suggested the presence of six additional political dimensions: the producers and agriculture/the consumers and urban industries; the established parties/the temporary small parties; recognized and noted centers/the “forgotten people” (populist dimension); Finnish/Swedish; communism/non-communism; and victorious/losing. Three developments can be envisaged in future dimensional analysis of multiparty systems: comparisons across countries, comparisons between different levels in the political system, and predictions of emerging political changes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors compared factors influencing voting behavior in a presidential election with similar factors in a congressional election and found that while several generalizations about voting behaviour in presidential elections did apply to the congressional race, some generalizations concerning the effects of early and late decision-making and cross-pressures could not be substantiated.
Abstract: This study compared factors influencing voting behavior in a presidential election with similar factors in a congressional election. The panel technique was utilized to study such characteristics as indecision and vote crystallization upon image conceptualization. A stratified random sample of residents in Iowa City, Iowa served as respondents for each of three waves of interviews during the 1970 congressional campaign. The results indicated that while several generalizations about voting behavior in presidential elections did apply to the congressional race, some generalizations concerning the effects of early and late decision‐making and cross‐pressures could not be substantiated.




Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that workers paid significantly greater heed to both newspaper and television advertising of both candidates than did the voting public, and paid significantly more attention to both newspapers and television ads than did voters.
Abstract: Campaign workers paid significantly greater heed to both newspaper and television advertising of both candidates than did the voting public.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on black delegate roll call voting behavior in the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention and find that black caucus representation of black interests depends primarily on the independence of black caucus members from political party allegiance.
Abstract: AMONG BLACK ORGANIZATIONS and black people generally, much emphasis in recent years has been placed on the need for black cohesion to achieve black goals. Illustrative of this emphasis on black cohesion is the organization of black caucuses in legislative bodies. Black caucuses now exist in the U.S. House of Representatives and in some state legislatures. In addition, state constitutional conventions like the 1970 Illinois Convention have had black caucuses. The increase in black caucuses within legislative bodies creates an important research question. To what extent do black caucuses represent black interests independent of political party or political "machine" interests? The hypothesis of this study is that, in a conflict between ethnic and party interests, black caucus representation of black interests depends primarily on the independence of black caucus members from political party allegiance. That is, if the black caucus tends to be closely aligned with a political party or "machine," the black caucus will be less likely to represent black interests and more likely to represent political party or " machine " interests when the respective interests conflict. A positive test of this hypothesis would indicate that a black caucus in a legislative body may be more symbolic than substantive or more " bark " than " bite." Such a result would not necessarily belittle the importance of black caucuses but, rather, merely suggest that working within the party system may dictate at least some sacrifice of ethnic interest for party interest. This study focuses on black delegate roll-call voting behavior in the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention.' Although other studies have


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a method for analyzing spatial voting patterns is presented to further student understanding of the electoral process by presenting a method that adds another dimension to the temporal and behavioral -structural approaches in studying the American electoral system.
Abstract: Passage of the 26th Amendment gave young adults the right to vote. Along with this privilege, new voters assumed responsibility for conducting themselves as knowledgeable citizens concerning issues, candidates, and the electoral process. This study attempts to further student understanding of the electoral process by presenting a method for analyzing spatial voting patterns. The spatial emphasis adds another dimension to the temporal and behavioral - structural approaches in studying the American electoral system. Inclusion of spatial analysis of voting patterns increases understanding and political socialization of young people.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied a community in Ohio in an attempt to change previous voting behavior involving a tax levy and found that voters were more likely to vote for a tax increase.
Abstract: The researcher studies a community in Ohio in an attempt to change previous voting behavior involving a tax levy. This case study offers a methodology for future research.