Election Studies: What's Their Use? / Edition 1

by Elihu Katz, Yael Warshel

Overview

Academic studies of elections are not in the business of predicting outcomes. They are in the business of explaining them. The best studies treat voting data as raw material with which to explore socio-psychological processes such as individual decision-making and such sources of influence as issues, personality, media, socio-economic background, and party loyalty. The ebb and flow of ideologies and the comparative workings of different political systems are core topics on which election studies shed light. Looking back on more than fifty years of voting research, some of its major practitioners and critics reflect here on what has—and has not—been accomplished.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813366357
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	01/18/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1540L (what's this?)

About the Author

Elihu Katzis Trustee Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor Emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Yael Warshel is a graduate student at the Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania Elihu Katzis Trustee Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor Emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Yael Warshel is a graduate student at the Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Preface , Introduction , After a Half Century of Election Studies: Whence, Where, and Whither? , An Agenda for Voting Research 1 , Some Thoughts on Democracy and Public Opinion Research , An Historical Context for Election Research , Context and Comparison in Election Research: The Israel National Election Study , Capturing Campaigns in National Election Studies , What About Issues? , Political Communication Scholarship: The Uses of Election Research , The Rule of Product Substitution in Presidential Campaign News

Editorial Reviews

Reflects on 50 years of voting research, asking what makes a good election study and what election studies are good for. Overviews theoretical and methodological achievements of election studies, and provides data from other political systems to contrast with US studies. Offers new insight into the workings of demographics, parties, issues, and media, looking at political communication scholarship, and the rule of product substitution in presidential campaign news. Material originated at a fall 1999 colloquium. The editors are affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews