Voting behavior

Abstract: In this wide-ranging study, the authors use 200 years of congressional roll call voting as a framework for an interpretation of important episodes in American political and economic history. By tracing the voting patterns of Congress throughout the country's history, Poole and Rosenthal find that, despite a wide array of issues facing legislators, over 80 percent of a legislator's voting decisions can be attributed to a consistent ideological position ranging from ultraconservatism to ultraliberalism.

Abstract: A large literature has demonstrated that such economic factors as growth, inflation, and unemployment affect the popularity of incumbents within many democratic countries. However, cross-national aggregate analyses of "economic voting" show only weak and inconsistent economic effects. We argue for the systematic incorporation of political factors that shape the electoral consequences of economic performance. Multivariate analyses of 102 elections in 19 industrialized democracies are used to estimate the cross-national impact of economic and political factors. The analyses show that considerations of the ideological image of the government, its electoral base, and the clarity of its political responsibility are essential to understanding the effects of economic conditions on voting for or against incumbents.

Abstract: How does a state's natural resource wealth influence its economic development? For the past fifty years, versions of this question have been explored by both economists and political scientists. New research suggests that resource wealth tends to harm economic growth, yet there is little agreement on why this occurs. This article reviews a wide range of recent attempts in both economics and political science to explain the “resource curse.” It suggests that much has been learned about the economic problems of resource exporters but less is known about their political problems. The disparity between strong findings on economic matters and weak findings on political ones partly reflects the failure of political scientists to carefully test their own theories.

Abstract: Tables and Figures Preface 1. Introduction I. POLITICS AND THE PUBLIC 2. The Nature of Mass Beliefs 3. How We Participate 4. Who Participates? II. POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS 5. Values in Change 6. Issues and Ideological Orientations III. THE ELECTORAL CONNECTION 7. Elections and Political Parties 8. The Social Bases of Party Support 9. Partisanship and Voting 10. Attitudes and Voting Choice 11. Political Representation IV. DEMOCRACY AND THE FUTURE 12. Citizens and the Democratic Process Appendix A: Statistical Primer Appendix B: Major Data Sources Appendix C: World Values Survey Codebook References Index