The American Voter Revisited

CHAPTER 10: The Formation of Issue Concepts and Partisan Change

254 CHAPTER 10 The Formation of Issue Concepts and Partisan Change Commentaries฀on฀American฀electoral฀politics฀routinely฀invoke฀ideological ฀terminology฀in฀order฀to฀account฀for฀election฀outcomes฀and฀patterns of฀voting฀behavior.฀For฀example,฀strong฀performances฀by฀Republican candidates,฀such฀as฀those฀in฀the฀elections฀of ฀1994 and฀2002,฀are฀often viewed฀as฀evidence฀that฀the฀public฀fa vors฀conservative฀approaches฀and solutions฀to฀the฀policy฀issues฀facing฀society.฀In฀contrast,฀Democratic฀victories ฀(such฀as฀those฀in฀the฀ 1992 or฀1996 presidential฀elections,฀and฀the 2006 midterm฀elections)฀are฀heralded฀as฀manifestations฀of฀popular฀preferences ฀for฀more฀vigorous฀governmental฀action฀to฀address฀salient฀problems .฀The฀discussion฀often฀becomes฀quite฀complex,฀with฀analysts฀looking ฀in฀detail฀at฀the฀for tunes฀of,฀and฀friction฀between,฀the฀more฀extreme and฀relatively฀moderate฀factions฀within฀each฀of฀the฀major฀parties. Of฀course,฀widespread฀attention฀to฀ideology฀does฀not฀nec essarily imply฀a฀consensus฀regarding฀explanations฀for฀election฀results.฀A฀strong Democratic฀showing฀at฀the฀polls฀ma y฀indicate฀that฀the฀public฀has฀become ฀more฀liberal฀in฀its฀preferences.฀Or฀it฀may฀reflect฀inc eased฀extremism ฀within฀the฀Republican฀Party.฀Or฀it฀may฀suggest฀that฀Democrats฀have moderated฀their฀own฀traditionally฀liberal฀stands.฀To฀state฀the฀problem in฀more฀general฀terms,฀an฀electoral฀outcome฀may฀be฀generated฀by฀movements ฀within฀the฀elect orate,฀by฀one฀par ty,฀by฀both฀par ties,฀or฀by฀any combination฀of฀these฀actors.฀To฀further฀complicate฀matters,฀there฀may be฀additional฀factors฀that฀trump฀ideological฀considerations:฀When฀confronted ฀b y฀poor฀go vernmental฀perfor mance฀(manifest ed฀b y฀lac k฀of progress฀in฀addr essing฀domestic฀or฀for eign฀issues),฀voters฀may฀con- The฀Formation฀of฀Issue฀Concepts฀and฀Partisan฀Change ★ 255 sciously฀ignore฀their฀liberal-conservative฀proclivities฀and฀simply฀“vote the฀rascals฀out.” Despite฀the฀different฀conclusions฀implied฀by฀the฀preceding฀accounts, the฀latter฀all฀reflect฀the฀fundamental฀assumption฀that฀an฀ideolo ical฀continuum ฀provides฀a฀reasonable฀baseline฀for฀evaluating฀American฀elections. This,฀in฀turn,฀presupposes฀that฀the฀electorate฀is฀(1)฀aware฀of฀its฀own฀position ฀along฀a฀dimension฀that฀ranges฀from฀liberal฀policy฀alternatives฀on฀the left฀to฀conservative฀policy฀alternatives฀on฀the฀r ight;฀(2)฀reasonably฀cognizant ฀of฀the฀parties’฀locations฀along฀the฀same฀continuum;฀and฀(3)฀sensitive ฀to฀significant฀m vements฀by฀any฀of฀the฀major฀act ors—significan groups฀of฀voters,฀political฀parties,฀and฀candidates—that฀may฀occur฀over time.฀The฀notion฀of ฀a฀continuum฀is฀also฀impor tant.฀It฀is฀not฀mer ely฀the case฀that฀voters,฀parties,฀and฀candidates฀are฀simply฀ordered฀to฀the฀left฀or right฀of฀each฀other.฀Instead,฀there฀is฀a฀clear฀sense฀that฀the฀actual฀distance of฀each฀party฀or฀candidate฀from฀its฀relevant฀constituency฀figu es฀into฀the voting฀calculus. But฀is฀this฀idea฀of฀an฀ideological฀baseline฀a฀realistic฀or฀useful฀way฀to think฀about฀the฀political฀behavior฀of฀the฀American฀electorate?฀The฀evidence ฀on฀this฀point฀obtained฀so฀far฀fr om฀our฀own฀analysis฀is฀mixed. The฀discussion฀in฀the฀previous฀chapter฀shows฀that,฀within฀one฀subset฀of the฀mass฀public,฀attitudes฀toward฀domestic฀issues฀are฀structured฀in฀a way฀that฀is฀consistent฀with฀the฀liberal-conservative฀continuum.฀So฀it might฀appear฀that฀there฀is฀an฀ideological฀cast฀to฀some฀citizens’฀view฀of political฀objects.฀But฀this฀occurs฀in฀barely฀half฀of฀the฀electorate.฀And even฀this฀degree฀of฀apparent฀ideological฀structure฀could฀simply฀reflect the฀way฀that฀political฀stim uli฀ar e฀pr esented฀b y฀par tisan฀act ors฀and transmitted฀through฀the฀mass฀media, ฀rather฀than฀any฀active฀liberalconservative ฀thinking฀on฀the฀par t฀of ฀individual฀citizens.฀Recall฀our ฀ earlier฀consideration฀of฀the฀preconditions฀for฀issue฀voting,฀which฀suggested ฀that฀a฀sizable฀element฀w ithin฀the฀electorate฀experience฀difficulties ฀in฀translating฀their฀policy฀preferences฀into฀specific฀choices฀among the฀candidates.฀Those฀results฀could฀indicate฀that฀many฀citizens฀are฀not adept฀in฀dealing฀with฀the฀relative฀positioning฀of฀political฀stimuli฀along policy-related฀dimensions.฀So฀it฀remains฀to฀be฀seen฀whether฀individual voters฀actually฀do฀bring฀explicit฀ideological฀concepts฀to฀bear฀on฀their own฀electoral฀decisions. Pursuing฀this฀line฀of ฀thinking,฀we฀also฀have฀to฀consider฀alternative viewpoints฀that฀people฀may฀bring฀to฀bear฀on฀the฀political฀w orld,฀apart from฀ideology.฀For฀example,฀we฀have฀already฀mentioned฀performance 256 ★ the american voter revisited evaluations฀as฀a฀judg mental฀standard.฀And฀it฀is฀conceivable฀that฀some individuals฀evaluate฀parties฀and฀candidates฀in฀terms฀of฀their฀impact฀on personal฀life฀situations.฀To...