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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Winners, Losers, And Perceived Mandates : Voter Explanations Of The 1998 Gubernatorial And 2000 Presidential Elections In Florida., Stephen C. Craig, Michael D. Martinez, Jason Gainous, James G. Kane
Winners, Losers, And Perceived Mandates : Voter Explanations Of The 1998 Gubernatorial And 2000 Presidential Elections In Florida., Stephen C. Craig, Michael D. Martinez, Jason Gainous, James G. Kane
Jason Gainous
Elections are sometimes seen as legitimizing institutions, promoting system-level support among citizens by providing them with input into the political process. However, prior research has found that is less true among the supporters of losing candidates, who often exhibit lower levels of political trust and satisfaction with democracy. We analyze two statewide surveys in Florida (following the gubernatorial and senatorial elections of 1998, and the controversial presidential election of 2000), and find that (1) losers do exhibit lower levels of political trust, satisfaction with democracy, and beliefs that government is responsive to citizens; (2) losers also are more likely to …
Why Does Voting Get So Complicated? : A Review Of Theories For Analyzing Democratic Participation., Jeff Gill, Jason Gainous
Why Does Voting Get So Complicated? : A Review Of Theories For Analyzing Democratic Participation., Jeff Gill, Jason Gainous
Jason Gainous
The purpose of this article is to present a sample from the panoply of formal theories on voting and elections to Statistical Science readers who have had limited exposure to such work. These abstract ideas provide a framework for understanding the context of the empirical articles that follow in this volume. The primary focus of this theoretical literature is on the use of mathematical formalism to describe electoral systems and outcomes by modeling both voting rules and human behavior. As with empirical models, these constructs are never perfect descriptors of reality, but instead form the basis for understanding fundamental characteristics …
Religion And Core Values : A Reformulation Of The Funnel Of Causality., Jason Gainous, Bill Radunovich
Religion And Core Values : A Reformulation Of The Funnel Of Causality., Jason Gainous, Bill Radunovich
Jason Gainous
This study reformulates the classic funnel of causality proposed in The American Voter. Where The American Voter suggests that group affiliation and values are equally influential in candidate choice, the foundational sociological literature suggest that values are derived from group affiliation, and therefore The American Voter has misconceptualized the ordering of these influences. We concur with the sociological literature, which suggests that values are more proximate to that decision than is group affiliation. Examining data from a 2002 statewide survey of Florida residents, and using religious affiliation as a measure of group affiliation, we explore the effects of political core …
The Electronic Ballot Box : Class, Age And Racial Bias On The Internet., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner
The Electronic Ballot Box : Class, Age And Racial Bias On The Internet., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner
Jason Gainous
This research creates a theoretical framework for understanding the effect of Internet voting on the electorate. Based on standard Downsian rational choice voting theory, we claim that Internet voting lowers the cost of voting for certain voting demographics based upon race, age, and income.We further contend that this electoral advantage may crystallize the growing turnout disparity be-tween demographic groups. The theory is tested using Bayesian inferential methods with data from the Internet turnout in the 2000 Arizona Democratic Presidential Primary merged with demographic data obtained from the 2000 Census. Our findings lend support for the theory that the Internet provides …
Civic Education And Democratic Capacity : How Do Teachers Teach And What Works?, Allison M. Martens, Jason Gainous
Civic Education And Democratic Capacity : How Do Teachers Teach And What Works?, Allison M. Martens, Jason Gainous
Jason Gainous
Objectives In recent years, political scientists have found that civic education improves the democratic capacity of students, yet little research has been done to date on how and why civic education works when it does. In this study, we go inside the classroom to explore how teachers teach civics to find out what works best at preparing young people for responsible, democratic citizenship. Methods Using a survey of American students, principals, and teachers, we examine the varied instructional methods being employed by social studies teachers in ninth-grade classrooms across the country to determine which methods and which combinations of methods …
Is There A Woman's Perspective? : An Exploration Of Gender Differences Along Republican And Conservative Lines., Jason Gainous
Is There A Woman's Perspective? : An Exploration Of Gender Differences Along Republican And Conservative Lines., Jason Gainous
Jason Gainous
Is there a distinct “woman’s perspective?” This paper argues that the answer is an emphatic yes. American National Election Study survey data are used to explore Republican and conservative women’s attitudes concerning social spending issues and religiosity. Most of the previous gender gap research focuses on gender differences in attitudes by examining gender shifts in political party identification and voting, but do not adequately address opinion differences along gender lines between groups that think of themselves as similar. This paper asserts that if men and women who classify themselves as both conservative and Republican exhibit distinct differences, evidence of a …
Congressional Actions And Public Reactions., Jason Gainous
Congressional Actions And Public Reactions., Jason Gainous
Jason Gainous
This paper explores the link between congressional actions and public attitudes about government responsiveness, public efficacy, and public trust in government. Congressional actions are moves by members of Congress that are potentially consequential to public opinion. The theory contends that actions taken by Congress influence these perspectives on government within an alert stratum of the public. This relationship is demonstrated by employing a pooled time-series logistical regression modeling data that come from the American National Election Studies merged with historical actions data. The findings support the contention that increased actions by Congress increase public efficacy and trust in government, and …
Issue-Related Learning In A Gubernatorial Campaign : A Panel Study., Stephen C. Craig, James G. Kane, Jason Gainous
Issue-Related Learning In A Gubernatorial Campaign : A Panel Study., Stephen C. Craig, James G. Kane, Jason Gainous
Jason Gainous
This study is based on data from a three-wave telephone panel survey conducted during the 1998 governor's race in Florida. The evidence suggests that a considerable amount of issue-related learning (having to do with candidate policy stands and group endorsements) took place over the course of the general election campaign, though substantial differences were observed from one issue area to the next. Further analysis indicates that learning was especially likely to occur among voters who (a) were more knowledgeable about political affairs to start with(confirming that the so-called "knowledge gap" may be exacerbated during campaigns); (b)scored high on a measure …
Ambivalence About Social Welfare : An Evaluation Of Measurement Approaches., Jason Gainous
Ambivalence About Social Welfare : An Evaluation Of Measurement Approaches., Jason Gainous
Jason Gainous
Research across disciplines, including political science, has embraced the idea that individuals often possess ambivalent attitudes, but there is considerable disagreement about how to measure ambivalence. Determining an effective way of capturing such phenomena is important to our understanding of politics and public opinion. The literature offers several meta-attitudinal and operative measures of ambivalence. I discuss strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches and conduct a test of the relative construct validity of two meta-attitudinal and two operative measures of social welfare ambivalence using data from a statewide survey of Florida residents in 2004. The findings suggest that one …
Measuring Ambivalence About Government In The 2006 Anes Pilot Study., Michael D. Martinez, Jason Gainous, Stephen C. Craig
Measuring Ambivalence About Government In The 2006 Anes Pilot Study., Michael D. Martinez, Jason Gainous, Stephen C. Craig
Jason Gainous
Although scholars increasingly recognize that people often possess multiple and even conflicting attitudes about a given topic, our understanding of the nature, causes, and consequences of such attitudinal ambivalence is limited by a lack of consensus as to how the concept should be operationalized. In this paper, we examine three separate measures (one subjective, two operative) of ambivalence regarding "the federal government in Washington" that were asked in the 2006 ANES Pilot Study. Our findings indicate that while the operative measures are less susceptible to question-order and response-order effects, none of the three indicators fares particularly well in various other …
Mena And The Internet : Technology And The Democratic Divide., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner
Mena And The Internet : Technology And The Democratic Divide., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner
Jason Gainous
No abstract provided.
Bowling Online : The Internet And The New Social Capital., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner
Bowling Online : The Internet And The New Social Capital., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner
Jason Gainous
The decline thesis proponents in the social capital literature have largely ignored the fastest growing venue for new social capital formation – the Internet. We argue that the Internet is making a larger impact than the current research acknowledges. Using survey data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project combined with a survey of college students, we confirm a strong positive relationship between online social networking and political participation. Further, we present evidence that, at least in 2008 election, there was a bias toward voting for Democrats among those who utilized online social networking services including Facebook and Twitter. …