The American Voter Revisited

The presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 will be remembered as two of the most contentious and polarizing political events in American history.In an attempt to understand what happened during these historic elections, "The American Voter Revisited" recreates the outstanding classic from 1960, "The American Voter", following the same format, theory, and mode of analysis as the original."The American Voter Revisited" examines how contemporary voters decide, using the lens of the 1960 text, which was based on the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956. In this new volume, the ideas and methods of "The American Voter" are tested against presidential election surveys from 2000 and 2004. In a fascinating account, the contemporary American voter is found to behave politically in a fashion surprisingly similar to voters of the 1950s. Yet, some things have changed. For one, the recent intense polarization of the two leading political parties has heightened the ideological tenor of American politics.The organization of "The American Voter Revisited" follows closely the original book. Its fifteen chapters - about political attitudes, the political context, the social and economic context, and the electoral decision - parallel chapters in "The American Voter", from the title itself to the style to the analytical framework. The aim is to reproduce the theory and the tables of the original but with an entirely new and up-to-date data set. In particular, where "The American Voter" concentrated on an understanding of voters through examination of the National Presidential Election Surveys of 1952 and 1956, this book studies the National Presidential Election Surveys of 2000 and 2004. In addition, each chapter includes a Comment and Controversy section, which brings the reader up-to-date on the numerous scholarly and political questions that the material of the chapter has generated over the years.Just as "The American Voter" turned out to be a model text, "The American Voter Revisited" is sure to become a classic in the study of voter behavior and psychology.