Re: Preventing Working-Class Electoral Participation

[Michael Hoover <HooverM@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>>> furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx 02/27/04 01:49PM >>>
Turnout Decline in the U.S. and other Advanced Industrial Democracies
Martin P. Wattenberg
University of California, Irvine
<<<<<>>>>>

mainstream poli sci guy who uses lots of national elections studies
data, not to be confused with digital artist of same name, no relation
to neo-con ben wattenberg to best of my knowledge, mw's books are
accessible reading (and brief to boot)...

he suggests that attitudes about political parties are not so much
negative as neutral and he argues that voters split tickets because
parties are less relevant as voting cues (somewhat different
interpretation might conclude that people have become apathetic about
parties and decreasingly think about them when subject of politics comes
up), his use of data has shown, among other things and unsurprisingly -
that there's been no conservative mandate in last couple of decades
(what he calls a 'hollow realignment'), that interest group electoral
increases when political parties are weak, that rep prez candidates have
advantage in weak party climate...   michael hoover