This dissertation is concerned with recent changes in levels of voter turnout for presidential elections. Turnout decreased at each election from 1960 to 1976 despite a variety of changes taking place in American society which might have been expected to lead to increased turnout. The present research attempts to shed light on this paradox by means of a longitudinal analysis of a variety of surveys of the American electorate. Data collected by the Bureau of the Census were used in an investigation of changes in turnout across various demographically defined subgroups between 1964 and 1976. The Census surveys provide information about approximately 100,000 persons. Data collected by the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center (SRC) were used in an analysis of the attitudinal correlates of the turnout decline. The SRC samples ranged in size from 1500 to 2000 respondents. A comparison of the Census and SRC surveys revealed that although turnout levels were generally higher in the SRC series than in the Census series, the two series provided similar estimates of the relationships of turnout to such demographic characteristics as region, color, and sex. The traditional sex differential in turnout was found to have narrowed steadily from 1964 to 1976 so that by 1976, female turnout equalled that of males among non-Southern whites and Southern blacks and exceeded that of males among non-Southern blacks. Reversals of the traditional sex differential were particularly pronounced within younger, more educated segments of the population. Further analysis revealed that the sex differential in turnout was related to sex differences in patterns of labor force participation. Differential change by color and region between 1964 and 1968 was also observed; the turnout of non-Southern blacks decreased sharply over this four year period while that of Southern blacks increased markedly. No further change in the color differential was observed in either region from 1968 to 1976, although this finding was later discovered to be the result of increases in the color differential among younger, more educated persons and counterbalancing decreases in this differential among older, less educated persons. Also observed over this 12 year period was a decrease in the traditional regional turnout differential. From 1964 to 1968 and again from 1972 to 1976, Southern and non-Southern turnout rates converged. Approximately 27% of the turnout decline observed between 1968 and 1972 could be attributed to the lowering of the voting age. Among whites, the greatest decreases in turnout over the entire 12 year interval were observed among persons between the ages of 45 and 54. Among blacks, the greatest decreases were observed among the 25 to 34 year old age group while actual increases were observed at the oldest end of the age continuum. Patterns of change by education paralleled to a certain extent the age-related patterns, with the greatest turnout decreases from 1964 to 1976 being observed among whites with between 9 and 11 years of education and among black high school graduates. The attitudinal correlates of turnout examined in this research included measures of party identification, political interest, political efficacy, and political trust. It was found that the aggregate turnout decline from 1964 to 1972 could be statistically "explained" by decreasing party identification and increasing political cynicism. Further analysis revealed that increased cynicism accounted for the sharp decrease in turnout observed among non-Southern blacks between 1964 and 1968 and suppressed the increase in turnout observed among Southern blacks over this same period. The other attitudinal items, although cross-sectionally related to turnout in theoretically predicted ways, failed to explain away the turnout decline.

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The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was greatly divided over the question of how to select the new nation’s chief executive. The method finally adopted was a compromise between direct election and election by the national legislature and provided that individual states, as they saw fit, choose electors equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives. From the beginning, most of delegates considered the proposal awkward and irrational almost to the point of absurdity, but as they argued about it, they became convinced that it was then the only plan which could overcome the objections raised by other methods. The Convention had barely adjourned, however, when dissatisfaction over election of the President arose once again. Reform efforts began in the earliest Congresses. In the past one hundred and eighty years, more than 1000 amendments—perhaps more than on any other subject—have been introduced. These may be divided into two distinct classifications—direct and indirect methods of election. These may be divided into two distinct classifications—direct and indirect methods of election. From the district system proposed in the early 19th century to the proportional system advanced most prominently after World War II, each of the direct proposals has had its day and has been found wanting. It has become clear that other indirect methods of election would merely turn in some old problems for some new ones. The present system, however, is in serious need of reform. Its dangers are well documented. Failure of electors to vote in accordance with the desires of the voters and the present allocation of electoral votes makes it possible that under the present system a President can be elected who is not the choice of a majority of the citizens. Furthermore, the present system provides for an election in the House of Representatives if no candidate received the necessary 270 electoral votes. In a House election, each state casts one vote regardless of population. In view of these factors, the electoral college is an undemocratic institution, an historic remnant of a nation vastly different from the United States in the twentieth century. Through this nation’s years of development, the ideal of popular choice has become the most deeply ingrained of our governmental principles. Through our national experience we have learned that there is no safer or better way to elect our public officials. No matter how wisely or foolishly the American people choose their President, he is still their President. The electoral college should therefore be amended to insure that the chief executive is the voice of all 200 million Americans in practice as well as in theory. Only one type of proposed reform can claim to give the people this voice without creating other problems in the election of the President. It is the direct popular vote proposal under which each citizen’s vote regardless of where it is cast, would count equally with all other votes. The candidate receiving a majority or plurality, as decided by Congress, would be the new President. A run-off election would replace election by the House of Representatives if no candidate received the specified number of votes. No one, of course, can guarantee that direct election would never involve risks in the election of the President, but if one’s premise is based upon an overriding consideration of democracy, the risk seems worth taking.

The Whig party, which existed in the United States approximately twenty years, 1834-1854, was a coalition of diverse economic, political and social groups united by their disapproval of Jacksonian politics and methods. This minority organization derived its strength from powerful congressional leaders, who held strongly nationalistic ideas regarding economic policy and governmental function, which had a profound and lasting influence on American political and economic thought. In the battle for the presidency, however, Whig leaders sometimes resorted to the expediency of subverting their views and choosing military heroes as candidates in order to attract a larger electorate. This study examines the Whigs in the context of the presidential campaigns of 1840, 1844, and 1848, with major emphasis on the national issues which dominated each election and influenced the choice of candidates and development of tactics.

In 1992, Ross Perot, billionaire entrepreneur from Texas, headed the most powerful independent presidential candidacy of the twentieth century, garnering nearly 19 percent of the popular vote. Perot's rhetoric demanded fundamental reform through a seemingly contradictory message calling for both individual responsibility and collective patriotism and sacrifice: corporate populism, a traditional, albeit profoundly paradoxical ideological appeal. Perot spoke of rekindling the "American Dream" for the next generation, whose prospects appeared bleak because of a post-Cold War credit crisis and withering of the United States' industrial base. He saw linkages between this crisis and a host of social problems, and advocated controversial solutions that made coalition-building difficult. Perot looked to his followers to develop consensuses on many issues of the day. Heading a "grassroots" movement organized from the top down, with disciples from all points on the ideological compass, however, Perot found consensus a rare commodity. As a result, his campaign lacked cohesion. Perot's methods, personality, and wealth raised disturbing questions about the future of representative democracy, but his unfolding campaign also highlighted shortcomings in American electoral institutions and processes. Perot's treatment by the press, for example, provides a case study of the mass-production of political portraits and the impact of those images. That so many citizens voted for a man often portrayed as a suspicious, morally rigid, unscrupulous, vengeful demagogue indicates how widely disaffection with American political institutions had spread. Tapping this discontent, Perot created the potential for a new kind of politics in the United States. He catalyzed discourse on policy issues like foreign trade, welfare reform, military policy, and Executive branch responsibility. He focused attention on chronic problems like the national debt, the annual budget deficit, and the insolvency of "entitlement" programs like Social Security and Medicare. His presence seems to have provoked an unusually high turnout on election day. He helped pioneer a new era of direct dialog between candidates and citizens through the use of interactive and electronic media. Finally, Perot's candidacy symbolizes the emergence of a new centrist political movement--a force which in 1994 began to dramatically reshape the American political landscape.

Whig campaign strategists in the presidential election of 1840 developed new campaign tactics that included widespread use of campaign songs. They used these songs to sing the praises of their own candidate and policies while at the same time attacking the opposing party's candidate and policies. As early as 1842 these songwriters began writing songs in anticipation of the campaign in 1844. Prior to the nomination of candidates in May, 1844, the Whigs had published several songbooks including hundreds of song titles. In addition to supporting the candidacy of Henry Clay as the Whig candidate, the songs ridiculed several potential Democratic candidates including Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, James Buchanan, and others. Whigs also used imagery to support their candidate and attack the foe. Despite extensive efforts to influence the election with campaign songs, no hard evidence exists that documents the effect of campaign songs, either positively or negatively.

The study begins with an overview of the 1948 political situation, followed by the evaluation of Truman's use of ethical appeal using criteria developed by Thonssen, Baird, and Braden. Each of their three constituents of ethical appeal--character, sagacity, and good will--is applied to four speeches. Results of the analysis establish that Truman utilized a strong ethical appeal during the campaign. Conclusions are that his use of ethical appeal probably had a significant effect on the voters of America. Regardless of the quality of his use of pathos or logos, a less capable use of ethical appeal would probably have had a fatal effect on his campaign.

The purpose of this study is to examine two major psychological determinants of the vote in presidential elections - candidate image and party orientation. The central thesis of this study is that candidate image, as measured here, has been a greater determinant of electoral choice in the majority of presidential elections since 1952 than has party orientation. One of the vices as well as virtues of a democratic society is that the people often get what they want. This is especially true in the case of electing our leaders. Political scientists have often concentrated their efforts on attempting to ascertain why people vote as they do. Studies have been conducted focusing on the behavior of voters in making that important decision-who should govern?

This dissertation addresses voters' information heterogeneity and its effect on spatial voting. While most spatial voting models simply assume that voter uncertainty about candidate preferences is homogeneous across voters despite Downs' early use of uncertainty scale to classify the electorate, information studies have discovered that well and poorly informed citizens have sizeable and consistent differences in issue conceptualization, perception, political opinion and behavior. Built upon the spatial theory's early insights on uncertainty and the findings of information literature, this dissertation claims that information effects should be incorporated into the spatial voting model. By this incorporation, I seek to unify the different scholarly traditions of the spatial theory of voting and the study of political information. I hypothesize that uncertainty is not homogeneous, but varies with the level of information, which are approximated by political activism as well as information on candidate policy positions. To test this hypothesis, I employ heteroskedastic probit models that specify heterogeneity of voter uncertainty in probabilistic models of spatial voting. The models are applied to the U.S. presidential elections in 1992-2004. The empirical results of the analysis strongly support the expectation. They reveal that voter uncertainty is heterogeneous as a result of uneven distributions of information and political activism even when various voting cues are available. This dissertation also discovers that this heterogeneity in voter uncertainty has a significant effect on electoral outcomes. It finds that the more uncertain a voter is about the candidates, the more likely he or she is to vote for the incumbent or a better-known candidate. This clearly reflects voters' risk-averse attitudes that reward the candidate with greater certainty, all other things held constant. Heterogeneity in voter uncertainty and its electoral consequences, therefore, have important implications for candidates' strategies. The findings suggest that the voter heterogeneity leads candidates' equilibrium strategies and campaign tactics to be inconsistent with those that spatial analysts have normally proposed. / text