Description
Book SynopsisPresents a theory of party identification, the central concept in the study of voting. Challenging the traditional idea that voters identify with a political party out of blind emotional attachment, this book explains why party identification in contemporary American politics and enables voters to make coherent policy choices.
Trade Review"The book is succinct and will therefore appeal to students in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on political behaviour and US politics. The book is the first in a long while to take a fresh look at the concept of party identification, therefore a must read for scholars conducting research on elections and voting. Given the centrality of party identification to understanding US politics, this book is recommended to scholars engaged in all areas of study in US government and politics."--Choice
Table of ContentsPreface ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Our Story 3 Chapter 2: A Reputational Theory of Party Identification and Policy Reasoning 12 Premises 12 The Institutional Basis of Party- Centered Voting 13 Characteristics of Choice Sets in Politics 16 Reputational Reasoning and Candidate Positioning 23 Chapter 3: Lessons from a Sterile Downsian Environment 34 Issues of Identity 34 A Thought Experiment: Policy Reasoning in a Sterilized Downsian Space 36 The Downsian Experiment 37 Party and Partisanship in the Absence of Party 42 Lessons from a Sterile Downsian Environment 62 Chapter 4: The Electoral Logic of Party Reputations 64 The Errors- and- Bias Interpretation of Party Identifi cation 64 The Canonical Theory of Party Identifi cation 71 Programmatic Partisans and Reputational Premiums in Policy Reasoning 77 Candidate Positioning and the Reputational Premium: The Order Rule 79 Alternative Hypotheses on Candidate Positioning 82 Replication: The Order Rule 89 When Candidate Positions and Party Reputations Conflict 92 Caveat Lector 93 Chapter 5: The Democratic Experiment: A Supply- Side Theory of Political Ideas and Institutions 95 A Reputational Theory of Party Identifi cation and Policy Reasoning 96 A Party- Centered Supply- Side Approach to the Question of Citizen Competence 100 A Paradox: Citizen Competence and Partisan Reputation 104 Coda 109 Appendix A: A Limit on the Influence of the Policy Reputations of Parties 110 Introduction 110 Reputations as Encoded Information 114 The Stickiness of Preferences 116 Can Parties Induce Polarization Spikes? 119 Replication 125 Precis 130 Appendix B Study Descriptions: General Description of Methodology 133 References 137 Index 143
