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Recent research has suggested that voting may be a habit forming endeavor. These authors present compelling evidence that regardless of the legal barriers and the individual attributes a large number of citizens eventually move from being habitual nonvoters to habitual voters. In this paper I argue that though the habitual voting framework is a persuasive theory, it is incomplete because it ignores attitudinal and environmental factors that can influence an individual?s decision to cast a ballot regardless of one?s previous behavior. In fact, a significant number of individuals are better classified as sporadic voters. Sporadic voters differ from their habitual counterparts in that factors such as their attitudes toward the political parties, interest in the campaign, and contact by political parties will determine if they participate in any given election. Using NES panel data, I present evidence that sporadic voters differ systematically from habitual and nonvoters. I also demonstrate how changes in perceptions between presidential elections can influence when a sporadic voter will cast a ballot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about the influence of negative campaigning and campaign strategies on political participation.

This paper examines how individual respond to and use policy specific information. More specifically, we test what we refer to as the resistance hypothesis: the response citizens have to information depends on their partisanship and their sophistication. Sophisticated partisans are expected to resist the persuasive influence of information counter to their political predispositions. We test for this effect using data from a survey experiment included in the 1998 Multi-investigator Survey. The only instance of resistance we can find in these analyses is when party and contextual cues are included to help citizens see both the policy and political implications of the information. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An issue of growing importance in the field of Public Administration is the role of networks in explaining the performance of bureaucratic entities. Recently, scholars have attempted to make networks an important component in developing a model of public-managerial influence on bureaucratic performance. To date there has been no investigation into the role racial diversity plays in network formation or network success. This paper attempts to answer three questions related to network management: How does diversity influence the likelihood public managers will engage in networking activities? Are minority public managers more likely to network in diverse environments? How might networking influence the success public managers will have achieving positive outcomes? Using data from approximately 500 school districts in the state of Texas, I develop two models to answer the questions raised. The results of this research suggest that the racial diversity of a network will influence the amount of time a public manager spends performing network activities. The results also indicate the network management can reduce the negative influences on outputs associated with managing in racially diverse environments. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the effects of electoral reforms, intended to increase voter turnout, on the role of political campaigns launched by elites. The authors test the hypothesis that political party elites mobilize turnout of supporters and that the impact of electoral reforms is dependent on party mobilization efforts. An analysis of the practices of both the Democratic Party and Republican Party in the U.S. is presented.