Political Science 255: American Electoral Behavior

This course will examine the major theories of voting in U.S. elections, as well as the evidence for those theories. We will start with models of political socialization, then consider what could be considered its primary competitor: the standard spatial model of voting. We then consider the role of information in elections: how voters acquire it, how they process it, and how it influences them. We also consider the effects of the economy on elections: looking both at standard reward-punishment models voters could follow, as well as more modern political-economy variants considering the macro-economy more completely.

This syllabus is intended as an outline of the course. It is subject to change depending upon how the class proceeds. It is your responsibility to attend class and keep abreast of changes.

Your grade will be based on the following

      

	Long Paper:	40%
	3 Short Papers/Reading-Summaries	30%
	Class Participation :	30%

Week I and II : Early (Psychological Attachment) Models of Voting

• Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller  Donald E. Stokes. 1960. The American Voter. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, ISBN: 0226092542, (Bookstore - 11/19), selections.

  • Chapter 2) Theoretical Orientation
  • Chapter 3) Perceptions of the Parties and Candidates
  • Chapter 4) Partisan Choice
  • Chapters 6-10) Impact of Party ID, Ideology, Issues
  • Chapters 12-14) Groups, Class, Economic Antecedents of Behavior

• Nie, Norman H., Sidney Verba  John R. Petrocik. 1976. The Changing American Voter. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, ISBN: 0674108353, (Bookstore - 11/19), selections.

  • Chapters 6-9) New Issues, Conceptualization, Issue Consistency
  • Chapter 10) Rise of Issue Voting
  • Chapter 12) Issues and Parties
  • Appendix 4 - Changing Party Identification

• MacKuen, Michael B., Robert S. Erikson  James A. Stimson. 1989. ``Macropartisanship.'' American Political Science Review 83:1125-1142.
• Green, Donald Philip, Bradley Palmquist  Eric Shickler. 1998. ``Macropartisanship: A Replication and Critique.'' American Political Science Review 92:883-899.
• Erikson, Robert S., Michael B. Mackuen  James A. Stimson. 1998. ``What Moves Macropartisanship? A Response to Green, Palmquist, and Schickler.'' American Political Science Review 92:901-912.

• Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory Of Democracy. New York, New York: Harper & Row.

  • Chapters 1-8; especially chapter 8.

• Hinich, Melvin J. and Michael C. Munger. 1997. Analytical Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 0521565677, (Bookstore - 11/19).

  • Pages 1-73.

Week IV : Economic Voting

• Hibbs, Douglas A. 1982a. ``The Dynamics of Political Support for American Presidents Among Occupational and Partisan Groups.'' American Journal of Political Science 26:312-332.
• Hibbs, Douglas A. 1982c. ``On the Demand for Economic Outcomes: Macroeconomic Performance and Mass Political Support in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany.'' Journal of Politics 44:426-462.
• Erikson, Robert S. 1989. ``Economic Conditions and the Presidential Vote.'' American Political Science Review 83:567-573.
• Kinder, Donald R.  D. Roderick Kiewiet. 1981. ``Sociotropic Politics: The American Case.'' British Journal of Political Science 11:129-161.
• MacKuen, Michael B., Robert S. Erikson  James A. Stimson. 1992. ``Peasants or Bankers? The American Electorate Economy.'' American Political Science Review 86:597-611.

Week V : More Economic Voting

• Alesina, Alberto, Nouriel Roubini  Gerald D. Cohen. 1997. Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy. Cambridge: Massachussetts Institute of Technology Press, ISBN: 0262011611, (Bookstore - 11/19).
• Alvarez, R. Michael  Jonathan Nagler. 1995. ``Economics, Issues, and the Perot Candidacy: Voter Choice in the 1992 Election.'' American Journal of Political Science 39:714-744.
• Alvarez, R. Michael  Jonathan Nagler. 1998. ``Economics, Entitlements and Social Issues: Voter Choice in the 1996 Presidential Election,'' American Journal of Political Science, forthcoming.

Week VI : Information

• Zaller, John. 1992b. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 0521407869, (Bookstore - 11/19).

Week VII: Information

• Alvarez, R. Michael. 1997. Information and Elections. Revised 1st edition ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, ISBN: 0472085751.
• Franklin, Charles H. 1991. ``Eschewing Obfuscation? Campaigns and the Perception of U S Senate Incumbents.'' American Political Science Review 858:1193-1214.

Week VIII: Information

• Popkin, Samuel L. 1994. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. Second ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN: 0226675459.

• Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman  Henry E. Brady. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ISBN: 0674942930, (Bookstore - 11/19) .