The American nonvoter / Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk.
2017
JK1987 .R34 2017 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection
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Details
Title
The American nonvoter / Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk.
Author
Ragsdale, Lyn, 1954- author.
ISBN
9780190670719 (paperback)
0190670711 (paperback)
9780190670702
0190670703
0190670711 (paperback)
9780190670702
0190670703
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]
Language
English
Description
x, 315 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Call Number
JK1987 .R34 2017
Dewey Decimal Classification
324.973/092
Summary
The American Nonvoter examines how uncertainty regarding the national context influences people's decisions whether to vote or not. During times of national crisis, when uncertainty is high, voting increases; during times of stability people stay home. Using rigorous statistical tools and rich historical stories, Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk show how uncertainty in the national campaign context reduces nonvoting in presidential and midterm elections from 1920 to 2012.
"A diverse body of research exists to explain why eligible voters don't go to the polls on election day. Theories span from the psychological (nonvoters have limited emotional engagement with politics and therefore lack motivation), to the social (politics is inherently social and nonvoters have limited networks), and the personal (nonvoters tend to be young, less educated, poor, and highly mobile). Other scholars suggest that people don't vote because campaigns are uninspiring. This book poses a new theory: uncertainty about the national context at the time of the election. During times of national crisis, when uncertainty is high, citizens are motivated to sort through information about each candidate to figure out which would best mitigate their uncertainty. When external uncertainty is low, however, citizens spend less time learning about candidates and are equally unmotivated to vote. The American Nonvoter examines how uncertainty regarding changing economic conditions, dramatic national events, and U.S. international interventions influences people's decisions whether to vote or not. Using rigorous statistical tools and rich historical stories, Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk test this theory on aggregate nonvoting patterns in the United States across presidential and midterm elections from 1920 to 2012. The authors also challenge the stereotype of nonvoters as poor, uneducated and apathetic. Instead, the book shows that nonvoters are, by and large, as politically knowledgeable as voters, but see no difference between candidates or view them negatively." -- Publisher's description
"A diverse body of research exists to explain why eligible voters don't go to the polls on election day. Theories span from the psychological (nonvoters have limited emotional engagement with politics and therefore lack motivation), to the social (politics is inherently social and nonvoters have limited networks), and the personal (nonvoters tend to be young, less educated, poor, and highly mobile). Other scholars suggest that people don't vote because campaigns are uninspiring. This book poses a new theory: uncertainty about the national context at the time of the election. During times of national crisis, when uncertainty is high, citizens are motivated to sort through information about each candidate to figure out which would best mitigate their uncertainty. When external uncertainty is low, however, citizens spend less time learning about candidates and are equally unmotivated to vote. The American Nonvoter examines how uncertainty regarding changing economic conditions, dramatic national events, and U.S. international interventions influences people's decisions whether to vote or not. Using rigorous statistical tools and rich historical stories, Lyn Ragsdale and Jerrold G. Rusk test this theory on aggregate nonvoting patterns in the United States across presidential and midterm elections from 1920 to 2012. The authors also challenge the stereotype of nonvoters as poor, uneducated and apathetic. Instead, the book shows that nonvoters are, by and large, as politically knowledgeable as voters, but see no difference between candidates or view them negatively." -- Publisher's description
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-303) and index.
Added Author
Rusk, Jerrold G., 1941- author.
Available in Other Form
American nonvoter.
Record Appears in
On-Campus Resources > Books
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Table of Contents
A theory of uncertainty in nonvoting
Measuring nonvoting
Campaign context, uncertainty, and nonvoting
Who are nonvoters?
Searching the past
The post-war period : 1946-1972
A period of government reassessment : 1974-1990
Information technology years : 1993-2012
The national campaign context in retrospect.
Measuring nonvoting
Campaign context, uncertainty, and nonvoting
Who are nonvoters?
Searching the past
The post-war period : 1946-1972
A period of government reassessment : 1974-1990
Information technology years : 1993-2012
The national campaign context in retrospect.