Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T16:28:56.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The American Voter in Congressional Elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Barbara Hinckley
Barbara Hinckley*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article analyzes congressional elections research following from the 1978 National Election Study. In a field where basic information was lacking, the study constitutes a major data collection effort. Results should be taken as tentative, with serious work on measurement and conceptualization remaining. Nevertheless, a number of important preliminary findings can be identified. Voters' evaluations of the congressional candidates, House and Senate, have a major influence on the vote, separate from incumbency and party and more important than presidential evaluations or other evaluations. While House incumbents receive the strongest positive support on a number of measures, there is little negative perception of any candidate in congressional contests. Finally, there are major differences found for Senate and House challengers, in voter recognition and information, but no major differences for Senate and House incumbents. House challengers stand apart from all other candidates in their degree of visibility and contact with voters. The article discusses the implications of these findings and indicates priorities for future research.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , September 1980 , pp. 641 - 650
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, Alan I. (1980). “A Comparison of Voting for U.S. Senator and Representative in 1978.” American Political Science Review 74: 633–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cover, Albert (1977). “One Good Term Deserves Another.” American Journal of Political Science 21: 523–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, Robert (1971). “The Advantage of Incumbency in Congressional Elections.” Polity 3: 395–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenno, Richard (1978). Home Style. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Ferejohn, John (1977). “On the Decline of Competition in Congressional Elections.” American Political Science Review 71:166–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiorina, Morris (1977). “The Case of the Vanishing Marginals: The Bureaucracy Did It.” American Political Science Review 71: 177–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glantz, Stanton, et al. (1976). “Election Outcomes: Whose Money Matters.” Journal of Politics 38: 1033–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldenberg, Edie, and Traugott, Michael (1980). ”Campaign Effects on Outcomes in the 1978 Congressional Elections.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.Google Scholar
Hinckley, Barbara (1980). “House Reelections and Senate Defeats: The Role of the Challenger.” British Journal of Political Science, forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinckley, Barbara, et al. (1974). “Information and the Vote: A Comparative Election Study.” American Politics Quarterly 2: 131–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary (1978). “The Effects of Campaign Spending on Congressional Elections.” American Political Science Review 72: 469–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary (1980a). Money in Congressional Elections. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary (1980b). “Congressional Elections, 1978: The Case of the Vanishing Challengers.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.Google Scholar
Jones, Charles (1966). “The Role of the Campaign in Congressional Politics.” In Jennings, Kent and Zeigler, Harmon (eds.), The Electoral Process. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Kernell, Samuel (1971). “Presidential Popularity and Negative Voting.” American Political Science Review 65: 44–66.Google Scholar
Kostroski, Warren (1973). “Party and Incumbency in Postwar Senate Elections.” American Political Science Review 67: 1213–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuklinski, James, and West, Darrell (1980). “Prospective Economic Voting in House and Senate Elections.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.Google Scholar
Mann, Thomas E., and Wolfinger, Raymond E. (1980). “Candidates and Parties in Congressional Elections.” American Political Science Review 74: 617–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayhew, David (1974a). Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Mayhew, David (1974b). “Congressional Elections: The Case of the Vanishing Marginals.” Polity 6: 295–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Warren, and Stokes, Donald (1962). “Party Government and the Salience of Congress.” Public Opinion Quarterly 26: 531–46.Google Scholar
Miller, Warren, and Stokes, Donald (1963). “Constituency Influence in Congress.” American Political Science Review 57: 45–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Candice (1978/1979). “The Effect of Incumbency on Voting in Congressional Elections, 1964–1974.” Political Science Quarterly 93: 655–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, Glen (1980). “Incumbent Popularity and Electoral Success.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.Google Scholar
Patterson, Samuelet al. (1975). Representatives and Represented. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Piereson, James (1975). “Presidential Popularity and Midterm Voting at Different Election Levels.” American Journal of Political Science 19: 683–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, Lynda (1980). “A Study of Financial Contributors in Congressional Elections.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.Google Scholar
Ragsdale, Lyn (1980). “The Fiction of Congressional Elections as Presidential Events.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tufte, Edward (1975). “Determinants of the Outcomes of Midterm Elections.” American Political Science Review 69: 812–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uslaner, Eric (1980). “Ain't Misbehavin': The Logic of Defensive Issue Voting Strategies in Congressional Elections.” Presented at the Houston-Rice Conference on Congressional Elections.Google Scholar
Wright, Gerald (1974). Electoral Choice in America. Chapel Hill: Institute for Research in Social Science.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.