Incumbent Popularity, Challenger Invisibility, and Congressional Voters

Bibliographic Data

ID6300914
AuthorsLyn Ragsdale (corresponding author)
Year1981
Volume6
Issue2
Pages201
Publication date1981-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLegislative Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0362-9805 • E-ISSN: 1939-9162
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/439645
OpenAlexW2316180281
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited2

Congressional election scholars present two distinct explanations for the resounding electoral success of House incumbents-the popularity of the incumbents themselves and the invisibility of their challengers. Without bringing the two explanations together, however, it is difficult to assess how the interactions between incumbents and challengers are viewed by voters in an election context. Using the 1978 CPS study, a nonrecursive structural equation model is specified, which addresses how voters may interrelate their evaluations of incumbents and challengers. Results indicate that House voters' evaluations of challengers negatively affect their opinions of incumbents without the reverse being so. Senate voters, however, balance their views of the two candidates. The findings suggest that voters compare candidates when sufficiently visible candidates are present. This does not occur for many House voters, who, unfamiliar with challengers, vote for incumbents they genuinely like. Thus, an interrelational model reveals that both incumbent popularity and challenger invisibility contribute to House incumbent victories

Economics · Invisibility · Political economy · Political science · Popularity · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Artificial Intelligence

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