The Social Calculus of Voting

Interpersonal, Media, and Organizational Influences on Presidential Choices

Bibliographic Data

ID3130985
AuthorsPaul A Beck (0000-0002-2378-0308, The Ohio State University), Russell J Dalton (0000-0002-5973-4135, University of California, Irvine), Steven Greene (0000-0003-2569-5307, Texas Tech University), Robert Huckfeldt (Indiana University Bloomington)
Year2002
Volume96
Issue1
Pages57-73
Publication date2002-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003055402004239
OpenAlexW2076182081
LanguageEN
Citations received187
References cited36

Voting choices are a product of both personal attitudes and social contexts, of a personal and a social calculus. Research has illuminated the personal calculus of voting, but the social calculus has received little attention since the 1940s. This study expands our understanding of the social influences on individual choice by examining the relationship of partisan biases in media, organizational, and interpersonal intermediaries to the voting choices of Americans. Its results show that the traditional sources of social influence still dominate: Interpersonal discussion outweighs the media in affecting the vote. Media effects appear to be the product of newspaper editorial pages rather than television or newspaper reporting, which contain so little perceptible bias that they often are misperceived as hostile. Parties and secondary organizations also are influential, but only for less interested voters-who are more affected by social contexts in general. Overall, this study demonstrates that democratic citizens are embedded in social contexts that join with personal traits in shaping their voting decisions

Advertising · Business · Interpersonal communication · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Product (mathematics · Public relations · Social media · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Mathematics · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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