Voting Behavior - What Determines Vote Choice Essay

Many political science researchers study the forces that drive the vote. One of the earliest, and most well known, books about election studies is The American Voter. Written in 1960, the book tries to explain a model that describes what drives Americans to vote the way they do. The model suggests that social factors determine ones party identification, which determines ones issue positions and evaluation of candidates characteristics. These forces all work together to determine how one will vote. This model may or may not still hold true today, as political researchers are not in agreement as to what exactly drives the vote. One thing that does remain true, however, is that factors such as social groups, party identification, issues,†¦show more content†¦No one really knows what drives the vote, and we probably never will. It does seem, however, that retrospective evaluations do have a much more significant impact than they were once thought to. It has been found that issues do not play a significant role in voter choice. The American Voter authors found that the public is often not well informed about public policy and may not be able to vote on the issues alone. They also found that for voters to decide who to vote for based on issues three conditions must first be met. The first is that the voters must hold an opinion on the issue. They must also see what action the government is taking on the issue, and finally they must be able to see a difference in issue positions between the two parties. It is highly unlikely that a majority of the American public is able to meet all three requirements. Another reason why Americans are unable to make decisions based on issues is that they lack the knowledge and sophistication such a decision requires. Most of those people who do vote on issues know the candidates stances on the issues and keep their own view constant over time. 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