Strategic Politicians and Unresponsive Voters
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3145580 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard Born, Richard T Born (0000-0003-4360-427X, Vassar College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 599-612 |
| Publication date | 1986-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1958276 |
| OpenAlex | W2330073384 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 45 |
| References cited | 15 |
To resolve the paradoxical finding that economic conditions and presidential popularity powerfully relate to quadrennial movement in the House vote, but explain little individual voting variation, Jacobson and Kernell have advanced their "strategic politicians" model of midterm elections. Purportedly, the early-year political environment helps determine how many of a party's strong potential contenders risk challenging incumbents; voters in turn respond to the quality of candidates before them in November, and thus indirectly reward the party favored by this early-year environment. Despite its current prominence, however, the theory does not stand up to empirical investigation. A time-series equation of midterm outcomes regressed on early-year national conditions does not fare particularly well when contrasted with comparable equations assuming direct-effects voting. Furthermore, challenger quality has only a weak influence on individual voters-subordinate, in fact, to the effects of economic attitudes and presidential evaluations
Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Positive economics · Presidential system · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · Variation (astronomy · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Law · Monetary Policy and Economic Impact
Economic Conditions and the Congressional Vote
Strategy, Selection, and Candidate Competition in U.S. House and Senate Elections
Explaining and Predicting Midterm Congressional Election Outcomes
A Comparison of National Effects on Individual U.S. Senate Elections
Revisiting Midterm Loss
Candidate Quality and the Election of Republican Governors in the South, 1950-2004
What’s a losing party to do? The calculus of contesting state legislative elections
Estimating the Effect of Campaign Spending on Senate Election Outcomes Using Instrumental Variables
Quality, Not Quantity
The Redistricting Cycle and Strategic Candidate Decisions in U.S. House Races
Balancing in the U.S. States, 1978–2009
Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the 1998 House Elections
Up Close and Personal
Assessing the Impact of Campaign Spending in Governors' Races
The Timing of Strategic Decisions
Challenger Quality and Voting Behavior in U. S. Senate Elections
The Impact of Term Limits on the Candidacy Decisions of State Legislators in U. S. House Elections
A Comparative Look at Success in Regional Party Politics
Strategic Politicians and the Dynamics of U.S. House Elections, 1946–86
The Effect of War Chests on Challenger Entry in U.S. House Elections
The Puzzle of Midterm Loss
Preemptive Fund-raising and Challenger Profile in Senate Elections
The Presidential Surge and its Midterm Decline in Congressional Elections, 1868-1988
Preempting Quality Challengers in House Elections
Candidates, Money, and Voters-Assessing the State of Congressional Elections Research
Loosened Partisan Attachments and Receptivity to Incumbent Behaviors
Personal Economic Well-Being and the Individual Vote for Congress
Assessing the Impact of Ca-mpaign Spending in Governors' Races
The Personal and the Political in Repeat Congressional Candidacies
Risk Attitudes and the Incumbency Advantage
The Dynamic Character of Political Party Evaluations
Candidates, Campaigns, or Partisan Conditions? Reevaluating Strategic‐Politicians Theory
Strategic Retirements
The Use of Party Brand Labels in Congressional Election Campaigns
Do Newspapers Enlighten Preferences? Personal Ideology, Party Choice and the Electoral Cycle
Gubernatorial Midterm Slumps
Unpacking LogM
Political Knowledge and Enlightened Preferences
Money and State Legislative Elections
Loss aversion, presidential responsibility, and midterm congressional elections
Politics, Primordialism, and Orientalism
Economic and Referendum Voting
Where's the Party? Congressional Candidate Recruitment and American Party Organizations
Challenger Profile and Gubernatorial Elections
State Supreme Courts in American Democracy
Unsafe at any margin
Political Control of the Economy
State Legislator Candidacies for the U. S. House
Macroeconomics and Micropolitics
A Probabilistic Approach to Retirement from the U. S. Congress
Strategic Decisions on Candidacy in U. S. Congressional Districts
National Issues, Strategic Politicians, and Voting Behavior in the 1980 and 1982 Congressional Elections
Explaining Challenger Quality in Congressional Elections
Macroeconomic Conditions and Fluctuations of Presidential Popularity
Strategy and Choice in the 1982 Congressional Elections
The Effect of Incumbency on Voting in Congressional Elections, 1964-1974
The Ecological Fallacy Revisited
| Unique citing works | 45 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,13 |
| Citation span | 1986 - 2019 (34) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 44 |