Voting Behavior - What Determines Vote Choice? Essay -- Politics Polit

umpteen political science researchers study the forces that drive the vote. One of the earliest, and most vigorous known, books about election studies is The American Voter. Written in 1960, the book tries to develop a model that describes what drives Americans to vote the way they do. The model suggests that social factors plant ones spelly designation, which coiffes ones issue positions and evaluation of candidates characteristics. These forces all work together to determine how one will vote. This model may or may non still hold true today, as political researchers are not in agreement as to what exactly drives the vote. One thing that does stop true, however, is that factors such as social groups, party identification, issues, and retrospective evaluations all carry some part in determining the vote. Although issues play a region in determining vote choice, social forces and retrospective evaluations are the most important factors the American public takes into conside ration when deciding who to vote for. less Americans identify with a political party today- in 1992 about 39% of the American public considered themselves as Independents. Before the 1982 election only 35% reported that they were Independents. This suggests that party identification is on the decline despite the American Voter finding that most everyone had a party identification and that their identification did not tilt much over their lifetime. (Abramson, Aldrich, Rohde, 225) Many people change their opinion about an issue over time, and only feel potently about a few issues. Because Americans lose the knowledge of politicians positions on issues, and lack opinions of their own for the most part, they rely on other factors when determining who... ...ming. retroactive evaluations require little knowledge or time and anyone can pronounce the President and the economy fairly quickly. Issues are always going to be important to the few that actively support them, but for the mo st part we rely on social groups and party identification, or retrospective evaluations when an officer is running, to help us decide who to vote for. BIBLIOGRAPHYAbramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, David W. Rohde. revision and Continuity in the 1992 Elections. 1995. Washington DC Congressional Quarterly.Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. The American Voter. 1960. New York Wiley.Erikson, Robert S., Kent L. Tedin. American Public Opinion. 1995. Massachusetts Allyn and Bacon.Luker, Kristin. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. 1984. Los Angeles University of atomic number 20 Press.