The New American Voter - Hardcover

Miller, Warren E.; Shanks, J. Merrill

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Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674608402 ISBN 13: 9780674608405

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1996

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In this definitive study, Warren E. Miller and J. Merrill Shanks present a comprehensive, authoritative analysis of American voting patterns from 1952 through the early 1990s, with special emphasis on the 1992 election, based on data collected by the National Election Studies. For example, Miller and Shanks reveal that:

The loudly trumpeted "dealignment" of the 1970s and 1980s, along with the decline in voter turnout, was in fact an acute "nonalignment" and noninvolvement of new cohorts entering the electorate.
The social correlates of the Republican/Democratic divisions on party identification among Southern voters have changed dramatically over a forty-year period.
Enduring cultural and ideological predispositions play a major role in shaping voters' reactions to election campaigns and their choice for President.
Personalities of presidential candidates and their positions on campaign issues tend to matter far less than is often claimed.
Perot's appeal in 1992 can be attributed to the same factors that distinguished between supporters of Clinton and Bush.

In an unprecedented analysis of individual elections and long-term trends, and of changes within regions, ethnic groups, and gender and age categories, The New American Voter presents a unique social and economic picture of partisanship and participation in the American electoral process. This work is likely to become an instant classic.

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About the Author:

Warren E. Miller is Regents Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University.

From Library Journal:

For those struggling to understand and explain the voting behavior of Americans, Miller and Shanks, two prominent academic political scientists, offer one of the most comprehensive analyses of the subject. Not since the classic The American Voter was published in 1960 has a book attempted such a sweeping examination of American voting patterns. Using National Election Studies (NES) survey results from 1952 to 1992, the authors test the accuracy of a number of variables (age, education, partisan identification, candidate personality, issue salience, etc.) in explaining voting trends. Among the more interesting findings are the continued importance of partisan identification for voters outside the South, changes in partisan identification that have occurred in the South, and the "nonalignment" and noninvolvement of new voters entering the electorate in the 1970s and 1980s. While the book may be difficult reading for those not conversant in the terminology of voting research, it is an excellent example of such research and should become the standard reference work in the field. For academic and larger public collections.?Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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