The Apartisan American: Dealignment and the Transformation of Electoral Politics - Softcover

Dalton, Russell J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1452216940 ISBN 13: 9781452216942

Publisher: CQ Press, 2012

Synopsis

Today, independents comprise the largest portion of voters, outnumbering either Democrats or Republicans. This provocative book sheds new light on the dealignment trend with the emergence of an independent voter Dalton is calling the Apartisan American. Utilizing 60 years of electoral surveys, Dalton's friendly and concise narrative shows students just who these apartisans are and how they're introducing new volatility into electoral politics, changing the calculus of electoral decision making, and altering the behavior of political parties. Dalton also shows the same dealignment trend happening in other established democracies. Understanding these apartisans is key to understanding the 2012 election as well as party and electoral politics into the future.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"One of the most important features of contemporary American politics is the large share of the electorate who do not identify as either Democrats or Republicans. These independents, 'apartisans' as properly conceptualized in this book, are the current battleground in elections. They deserve careful attention from all who want to understand -- or to shape -- American politics. No one is better positioned than Russ Dalton, who has studied apartisans in the United States and other countries for several decades, to provide us with this in-depth understanding. The Apartisan American is a timely contribution to the study of American politics."
- Paul A. Beck, The Ohio State University

"Russell Dalton carefully crafts a provocative argument in his new book, The Apartisan American. Rejecting the traditional typology of voters as strong versus weak partisans or pure versus leaning independents, Dalton focuses on a classification based on cognitive abilities, political interest, and party attachments. Americans with higher cognitive abilities and greater political interest are best viewed as either cognitive partisans or apartisans, depending upon partisan attachments, while those with lower interest and skills are categorized as ritual partisans or apolitical independents. Dalton skillfully demonstrates how this four-fold classification better explains current patterns and historical trends in political involvement and voter preferences. He concludes the book with evidence of similar dealignments and a growth in apartisans in other democracies."
- Barbara Norrander, University of Arizona

"This is a characteristically impressive book that sheds new light on the independent voter and uses an unrivalled time-series to tell us who they are, what they think and--most importantly--how they vote."
- Ian McAllister, Australian National University

From the Inside Flap

Table of Contents1. The Apartisan American
2. The Two Sides of the Dealignment Debate
3. Do Partisans Go to Heaven?
4. Mobilization and Democratic Citizenship
5. Becoming Active in Politics
6. Images of the Political Parties
7. Making Candidate Choices
8. Switchers, Splitters and Late Deciders
9. Dealignment in Comparative Perspective
10. Electoral Politics Past and Future

Edition details

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1452216940
• ISBN 13: 9781452216942
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240