Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Reasoning Voter is an insider's look at campaigns, candidates, media, and voters that convincingly argues that voters make informed logical choices. Samuel L. Popkin analyzes three primary campaigns--Carter in 1976; Bush and Reagan in 1980; and Hart, Mondale, and Jackson in 1984--to arrive at a new model of the way voters sort through commercials and sound bites to choose a candidate. Drawing on insights from economics and cognitive psychology, he convincingly demonstrates that, as trivial as campaigns often appear, they provide voters with a surprising amount of information on a candidate's views and skills. For all their shortcomings, campaigns do matter.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
Anchoring his analysis to case studies of three primary campaigns--Carter in 1976; Bush and Reagan in 1980; and Hart, Mondale, and Jackson in 1984--and drawing on insights from economics and cognitive psychology, Popkin (political science, U. of California, San Diego) critiques the conventional wisdom about presidential elections and the way voters make their choices. His revisionist account shows that, as trivial as campaigns often appear, they provide voters with a surprising amount of information on a candidate's views and skills. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Tomislav Z. Longinovic
Popkin uses data from primary elections -- in which both the time for campaigning and information are scarce - to . . . [suggest] that voters pick candidates closely reflecting their own positions on a variety of issues.' -- New York Review of Books
Robert Schmuhl
A rigorous, refreshing rebuttal of conventional thinking, the book argues that Americans take more than echoes of slogans and sound-bites into the voting booth. . . .Shrewdly reveals the realities of the electoral process. -- Chicago Tribune Books
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