Voter Turnout: A Social Theory of Political Participation

Description

This book develops and empirically tests a social theory of political participation. It overturns prior understandings of why some people (such as college-degree holders, churchgoers, and citizens in national rather than local elections) vote more often than others. The book shows that the standard demographic variables are not proxies for variation in the individual costs and benefits of participation, but for systematic variation in the patterns of social ties between potential voters. Potential voters who move in larger social circles, particularly those including politicians and other mobilizing actors, have more access to the flurry of electoral activity prodding citizens to vote and increasing political discussion. Treating voting as a socially-defined practice instead of as an individual choice over personal payoffs, a social theory of participation is derived from a mathematical model with behavioral foundations that is empirically calibrated and tested using multiple methods and data sources. Cover Voter Turnout Series Editors Title Copyright Dedication Contents Figures Tables Preface 1: Voting Together THE SOCIAL THEORY OF VOTER TURNOUT CONDITIONAL CHOICE AND CONDITIONAL DECISION MAKING THE ORTHODOX VIEW: VOTERS MAKING DECISIONS The Rational Actor Takes a Survey CONTEXTUAL EXPLANATIONS OF VOTER TURNOUT Institutions Institutional Costs Electoral Institutions Mobilization and Strategic Politicians Mobilization and Canvassing Social Context and the Sociological Tradition OVERVIEW OF REMAINING CHAPTERS 2: Conditional Choice THE EVIDENCE FOR CONDITIONAL DECISION MAKING MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF CONDITIONAL DECISION MAKING Conditional Decision Rules The Three Basic Rules Dynamics of Conditional Decision Models ENGINEERING A MODEL AND MID-LEVEL THEORY 3: The Social Meaning of Voting SOCIAL MEANING: PEOPLE AND RELATIONSHIPS DATA AND METHODS VOTING IS THE ACT OF AMERICAN CITIZEN VOTER AS AMERICANS: IS THERE A CONSENSUS? Partisanship Nonvoters AMERICAN CITIZENS: FORMAL EQUALITY, INFORMAL AMBIGUITY All Americans Are Equal The American Community Authority in America Market Pricing CONCLUTION THOUGHTS 4: Conditional Cooperation EXPERIMENTAL DECISION SITUATIONS SIMILAR TO VOTING Citizenship in Social Dilemmas Equality, Communality, and Authority in Social Dilemmas DISTRIBUTION OF DECISION RULES Self-Reports of Conditional Decision Rules Experimental Manipulations and Conditional Decision Rules Costs and the Distribution of Decision Rules 5: Conditional Voters: Dynamics and networks CONDITIONAL COOPERATION: THE BASIC DYNAMIC Model Robustness Checks Simulating Personal Networks CONDITIONAL COOPERATION I LOCAL SOCIAL NETWORKS Simulating Personal Networks Empirical Estimates of Personal Network Degree and Density Simulating Turnout on Local Social Networks CONCLUSION 6: The Social Theory of Turnout STRATEGIC POLITICIANS AND CONDITIONAL DECISION MAKERS: A THEORETICAL SYNTHESIS CROSS-NATIONAL VARIATION: FIRST MOVERS AND COSTS VARIATIONS ACROSS ELECTIONS: CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY AND POLITICAL DISCUSSION Salience Equals Network Size Low Salience Does Not Equal High Costs INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN TURNOUT Individual Tendencies to Use Decision Rules Direct Mobilization Indirect Mobilization 7: Education and High-Salience Elections SOCIAL THEORY: IMPLICATIONS OF THE MODEL A NEW LOOK AT EDUCATION Social Network Size Education Mobilization Other Measures COMPARING SOCIAL COOPERATION AND CIVIC VOLUNTARISM Education and Political Interest Education and Turnout Multivariate Estimates DISCUSSION 8: Mobilization in Low-Salience Elections TURNOUT PATTERN IN LOW-SALIENCE ELECTIONS DATA Socioeconomic Status Turnout Rate Mobilization Institutions and Social Ties: Measuring Campaign Activity CANDIDATES, CAMPAIGNING, AND SOCIAL TIES Institutions and Social Ties: Measuring Campaign Activity MOBILIZATION AND TURNOUT AT THE PRECINCT LEVEL 9: Paradox Lost CONDITIONAL CHOICE AND THE CONDITIONAL DECISION-MAKING MODEL EMPIRICAL SUPPORT FOR A NEW VIEW OF EDUCATION AND INCOME MAKING SENSE OF EXISTING RESEARCH FURTHER IMPLICATIONS Appendix A: Simulations of the Conditional Cooperation Model VALIDATING THE PROGRAMMED MODEL MODEL EXTENSIONS: NETWORK CONTRUCTION Appendix B: Methodological Notes on the General Social Survey References Index Other books in the series