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We investigate the dimensionality of politics in the European Parliament by applying a scaling method to all roll-call votes between 1979 and 2001 in the European Parliament. Contrary to most existing studies using these methods, we are able to interpret the substantive content of the observed dimensions using exogenous measures of national party policy positions. We find that the main dimension of politics in the European Union's only elected institution is the classic left-right dimension found in domestic politics. A second dimension is also present, although to a lesser extent, which captures government-opposition conflicts as well as national and European party positions on European integration.

Scholars have long debated the individual-level relationship between partisanship and policy preferences. We argue that partisanship and issue attitudes cause changes in each other, but the pattern of influence varies systematically. Issue-based change in party identification should occur among individuals who are aware of party differences on an issue and find that issue to be salient. Individuals who are aware of party differences, but do not attach importance to the issue, should evidence party-based issue change. Those lacking awareness of party differences on an issue should show neither effect. We test our account by examining individuals' party identifications and their attitudes on abortion, government spending and provision of services, and government help for African Americans using the 1992-94-96 National Election Study panel study, finding strong support for our argument. We discuss the implications of our findings both for the microlevel study of party identification and the macrolevel analysis of partisan change.

An important component of incumbent support is the reward/punishment calculus of economic voting. Previous work has shown that 'clarity of responsibility' within the central state government conditions national economic effects on incumbent vote choice: where clarity is high (low), economic effects are greater (less). This article advances the 'clarity of responsibility' argument by considering the effect of multilevel governance on economic voting. In institutional contexts of multilevel governance, the process of correctly assigning responsibility for economic outcomes can be difficult. This article tests the proposition that multilevel governance mutes effects of national economic conditions by undermining responsibility linkages to the national government. Individual-level data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems Module 1 are used to test this proposition. Results demonstrate that economic voting is weakest in countries where multilevel governance is most prominent. Findings are discussed in light of the contribution to the economic voting literature and the potential implications of multilevel governance.

In new democracies party systems are often young, so partisan cues and roots in the electorate tend to be weak. The results, in many instances, include volatile campaigns with comparatively high degrees of short-term preference change among voters. We explore the mechanisms of voter volatility and, more broadly, the ways in which citizens learn about issues and candidates in weak-party systems. We claim that citizens in such settings rely heavily upon persuasive information gathered from their immediate social contexts. Utilizing a unique panel survey implemented during Brazil's historic 2002 presidential election, we demonstrate the importance of political discussion within social networks and neighborhood context for explaining preference change during election campaigns. We also demonstrate the concrete political consequences of social context by showing how candidate momentum runs can be driven by waves of discussion.

Electoral low turnout has provoked some heart-searching among politicians and attention to the 'turnout problem' among academic analysts. In addition, the Electoral Commission has initiated a number of experiments in […]

A simple game-theoretic model suggests that voter preferences should find stronger reflection in policy outcomes if referendums are possible than if such popular influence is excluded. Relying on the large-scale quasiexperiment of European integration, we test whether referendums lead to more supportive voters with data covering more than 20 years. We find suggestive evidence for our theoretical implication that constitutional provisions for referendums lead to citizens more supportive of European integration. Similarly, the results suggest that voters more strongly support European integration immediately after a referendum vote.

An analysis of the 1997 British Election Study found a pattern of altruistic voting. Voters who were prospering personally but who lived in areas of high local unemployment tended to vote against the government.

Questions regarding positional voting procedures have been the subject of significant attention for many years. Two of the most common voter position, the standard plurality method and the Borda count are used widely but contain paradoxes. A theory to account for all possible three-alternative pairwise and positional voting results is presented. The theory considers preference aggregation paradoxes, cycles and differences between Borda and Condorcet winners. An explanation of the identification, interpretation and profiles of each paradox is presented. One significant discovery is the critical error in the Condorcet winner.

A critique is presented on the effects of expressive voting on socioeconomic issues. It is argued that expressive voting, defined as individuals voting to express their values and concerns, is an inefficient foundation for attempting to predict socioeconomic outcomes.

An analysis of Condorcet efficiency in approval voting reveals that an impartial culture condition for large electorates yields approval voting will greater Condorcet efficiency than plurality rule. The study also reveals that the same culture conditions has a smaller Condorcet efficiency than the voting rule when voters must vote for half of the available alternatives.

Theory: Recent research contends that campaign 'attack' advertising demobilizes the electorate, with particularly strong effects among political Independences. We dispute this claim, arguing instead that there is little reason to expect a powerful relationship between the tone of campaign advertising and voter turnout. Attack advertising may depress turnout among some voters, but it is likely to stimulate others by increasing their store of political information about the candidates, by increasing the degree to which they care about the election's outcome, or by increasing ties to their party's nominee. Hypothesis: The amount of a campaign's attack political advertising will be unrelated to overall voter turnout and to turnout among Independents. Methods: We employ a multi-method research design, combining a systematic content analysis of presidential campaign advertisements from 1960 to 1992 with aggregate data on turnout and the pooled National Election Studies survey data set. Correlational, linear, and logistic regression analyses are performed. Results: Controlling for other variables known to influence turnout, we find that attack advertising does not influence either overall turnout rates or individual self-reported votes. Similarly, we find no demobilizing effect for negative advertisements among Independent voters. Further survey analyses show that the effect of attack advertisements on voter withdrawal is weakest among individuals who are most highly attentive to the mass media, and thus who are most likely to have read about or seen the negativity of the campaign.

An analysis of voter behavior in the presence of private information reveals that the number of voters using private information as a basis of making choices is inversely proportional to the size of the electorate. The study also reveals that the effectivity of election mechanisms are dependent on the kind of information environment present. Factors determining the information environment such as nomination, campaigns, polls, etc. and the rules concerning these factors should be taken into account in the formulation of further studies.

An analysis of voter preferences and their effects on the decision-making mechanisms reveals that the choice of decision mechanisms are effectively left to the citizens. Decision mechanisms left to the citizens may or may not be successful and institutions are most influential in their selection. The study emphasizes that specific decision mechanisms should be applied on a case to case basis.

An analysis of committee voting behavior initially researched by Fiorina, Plott and Eavey reveals that players do not maximize aggregate dollar payoffs nor coalition aggregate payoffs but equilibrium does move in direction consistent with cardinal payoffs. The study also reveals that there is a tendency towards a core point that is influenced by each player's equal influence over decision.

Inflation bias is analyzed in voting behavior for different US presidential terms between 1978 and 1985, along with presidential popularity analysis from 1961 to 1992. Voters' preferences were found to shift with each change of administration, with higher inflation bias during the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George Bush.

For nearly two decades congressional elections scholars have struggled to match individual-level findings for the pocketbook voting thesis with aggregate-level findings. Whereas strong and consistent support can be found for the pocketbook thesis in presidential elections with both individual-level and aggregate-level data, significant support has been found for this thesis in U.S. House elections with aggregate-level data only. The typical individual-level congressional elections study examines a single election or series of single elections. We take an alternative approach. By pooling elections from 1980 to 1990, this inquiry demonstrates that retrospective pocketbook assessments indeed influence the individual's vote in congressional elections. The benefit this result brings to the elections literature is symmetry between the findings for presidential elections and congressional elections regarding the decision rule voters follow when weighing economic conditions when they vote.

Socioeconomic factors in the political geography of post-Soviet Russia, vary widely across the country, as is evident from the application of the spatial-structural regression models to the 1993 and 1995 Russian elections. Economic reforms are a key determinant of the electoral cleavages in post-communist states according to Herbert Kitschelt. While the electoral cleavages are similar to those in Europe, the 1995 anti-reform vote highlights the socio-economic impact of reforms in Russia. Popular response to party policy in Russia varies from the central to the peripheral regions.

A special section on election research, accompanied by seven articles about voter learning behavior, political campaign coverage and political advertising, are the highlights of the Spring 1995 issue of the Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. Weaver and Dew's study examines how Indiana voters learned of candidates' issue positions in the 1992 presidential election by focusing on predictors of voters' understanding. Martinelli and Chaffee in their essay call for some originality in media survey methodologies in order to account for differences in perceptions of the media.

In this field essay I summarize recent findings on congressional elections with an eye toward identifying the gaps, contradictions, and questions that still remain. I organize the discussion around three related topics: candidates, campaign finance, and voters. I examine our understanding of who runs and who does not run for Congress, and raise questions about the notion of challenger quality and how it has been measured. My focus then shifts to a discussion of the effects of money in congressional elections, highlighting unresolved questions about the influence of incumbent spending on election outcomes. I then examine the literature on voters in congressional elections, bringing together work that ties candidates and campaigns to their effects on individual voting decisions. I then conclude the essay by discussing how different research approaches might advance our understanding of congressional elections.

Rational choice theory has yet to provide a satisfactory explanation of voter turnout. One such account, minimax regret, is analyzed using data from a survey involving students at two Canadian universities during the 1993 Canadian federal election campaign. While the minimax regret hypothesis is supported at the bivariate level, it fails to pass a multivariate test in which other components of the calculus of voting are included. Minimax regret appears to be little more than a rationalization on the part of those having a strong sense of duty to vote.

This article investigates the experience of independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot by drawing on historical explanations for third party success. Studies of third party candidates have isolated a series of contextual factors that contribute to electoral success. They include low levels of partisanship, dissatisfaction with the major party candidates, issue alienation, economic discontent, and distrust toward government. Using NES data, the author tests these models as explanations for Perot's success in 1992 and compares the results to previous third party experiences in 1968 and 1980. The author finds that the existence of a large base of weak partisans was a major determinant of Perot's electoral breakthrough but that none of the other factors served as a powerful explanation for Perot's success, especially when compared to the experiences of previous third party candidates.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso's victory in the Oct. 3, 1994 national elections in Brazil was seen by many analysts as an endorsement of the economic stabilization program he drew up while he was Treasury Minister under Pres. Itamar Franco. The victory indicates that many Brazilians vote on the basis of personalism and that Brazil's political culture is characterized by weak parties and fragile institutions.

South Africa instituted a democratic government through free elections in Apr. 1994, only four years after the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners started its transition to democracy. However, many people who closely follow developments in the country have no idea of how the attitudes and behaviors of South Africans have changed since 1990. Markinor's regular Socio-Political Trends survey and the World Social Values Study allow a glimpse into the South African electorate's attitudes and behavior.

Voting along class, religious and racial lines have long been characteristic of elections in West European countries. However, these characteristics have been eroded as more citizens opt to vote as individuals rather than as members of a particular class or group. This individualization in voting, which has been predicted by leading theoreticians, has been brought about by declining religious influence, social diversification, raising of cultural levels, declining numbers and changing composition of the working class, declining rural populations and homogenized national territories.

Aggregate-level studies of gubernatorial elections suggest that the state's economy is not a significant determinant of gubernatorial vote choice These findings run counter to expectations of retrospective voting behavior. Governors today serve longer terms, have greater institutional powers, and are more publicly visible - all of which suggest that governors should be held accountable by the voters. The expectation is that individual-level studies, which measure voters' perceptions of the state's economy, will show a strong relationship between the state's economy and gubernatorial vote choice. Analysis of the 1982 and 1986 CBS/NY Times Exit Polls demonstrates that voters' evaluations of the states economy have a significant impact on vote choice.

Four studies examined how people view a consistent politician versus one with whom they agree. In 2 studies, college students evaluated a candidate who either favored or opposed restrictions on access to abortion. In Study 1, the candidate either held his position on abortion consistently over time or changed positions. In Study 2, the candidate switched positions either because of a reasoned change of opinion or to gain votes. In both Studies 1 and 2, the only determinant of participants' evaluations was whether they agreed with the candidate's final stand. Studies 3 and 4 addressed participants' intuitive judgments. College students believed that voters prefer a consistent politician, a belief shared by North Dakota state legislators. Voters prefer a politician who shares their views over one who is merely consistent-contrary to the intuitive judgments of voters and politicians alike.

The article argues that the Texas annexation issue did not hinder Henry Clay's campaign in the northern states in the 1844 presidential election. Focusing on the state of Connecticut, but with implications for the rest of the North, Renda argues that Whigs made a partial comeback in 1844 over their dismal performance in 1843 and attributes such to their persuasive, 'retrospective' issue appeals, especially in regard to the economic prosperity brought on by the Tariff of 1842. To the extent that annexation was an issue, it actually helped Clay in the North because Whigs deftly utilized their clear anti-annexation record against the Democrats.

Two studies investigated the effects of image and issue information on evaluations of political candidates. The extent to which voters base their evaluations on stereotypic image information (i.e., candidates' physical attractiveness) and nonstereotypic image information (i.e., individuating personality descriptions of the candidates) was examined. Also of interest were the factors that lead to image-based, as opposed to issue-based, evaluations of the candidates. Results demonstrated that (a) physical appearance influenced evaluations even when individuating personality information was provided, (b) subjects' evaluations were less influenced by their agreement with the candidates' issue positions when image information was presented than when it was not, and (c) subjects' evaluations were less influenced by issue agreement when a candidate's image was evaluatively mixed than when it was evaluatively consistent.

A framework proposing structural parameters to be used in analyzing voting behavior is presented. The analysis of voting returns is aggregated by jurisdiction and the returns come from a variety of jurisdictions. The problem is not with the aggregation but with the interjurisdictional character of the voting due to the interplay of voter preferences, proposals and proposal-maker preferences. It was suggested that an interjurisdictional model of voting behavior should incorporate all data concerning governments and voters.

The tendency of voters to elect senators with different electoral platforms was investigated. The causes of this tendency were explained as the result of shirking by politicians, when they fail to follow the desires of their constituents and as as result of politicians' success in producing wealth transfers. Winning politicians who succeed in inducing wealth transfers, however, are not assured in winning the next election because their followers may not exert the proper efforts in winning the next election.

Decades of survey research have provided us with countless examples of voter ignorance. While the existence of the badly informed voter is now a central part of political science's intellectual [...]

Southern politics changed dramatically since the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Most notably, we witnessed the emergence of a competitive two-party system and greater electoral participation by blacks. During this period we also saw a substantial liberalization in the voting behavior of southern Democratic members of Congress. A number of researchers have tried to use constituency variables to explain variability in liberal voting by southern legislators. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a constituency explanation of liberal voting by southern Democrats based on the ideological leanings of white voters, the size of the black constituency, urbanization and the strength of the Republican congressional candidate. The effects of constituency variables on two measures of liberal voting (ADA scores and party unity scores) are analyzed for each odd-numbered year between 1981 and 1987. The findings of this study suggest that constituency variables do impact on southern Democrat's liberalism with the willingness of southern whites to support liberal candidates exerting the strongest effect. The presence of a larger proportion of black residents is not consistently related to the measures of roll-call liberalism analyzed. Finally, the paper demonstrates that southern Democratic support for liberal positions increased independent of constituency characteristics.

Although the electoral influence of voter attitudes toward American presidential candidates has never seriously been questioned, only in relatively recent times has the existence of an equivalent effect for political party leaders in parliamentary systems become well-accepted. This analysis seeks to extend the understanding of the nature of parliamentary leadership effects to encompass the types of specific leadership qualities that influence electoral choice. Data from open-ended questions in surveys conducted in Australia in 1979 and New Zealand in 1981, taken together with earlier research, indicate a broad similarity of voter responses to different political leaders, in parliamentary as well as presidential systems. In particular, the criteria voters take into account most consistently when making leadership-based electoral decisions are positive perceptions of the 'performance relevant' qualities of competence and integrity. This is evidence against the argument that voting on the basis of leadership personality is in some sense 'irrational.'

A study which examined the effect of controlling factors such as involvement, knowledge and confidence on the attitude-behavior relationship is presented. The data used involved people with the intention to vote for or against potentially ecologocally harmful energy supply measures (PEHESS). Results show that involvement, knowledge and confidence emphasized the strong relationship between people's attitudes and their behavioral intention. These imply that those who plan to attain public support should enhance people's knowledge to such a degree that they feel confident about voting about an issue.