The New American Voter

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.