Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Are Voters Better Represented?, Brian Newman, John D. Griffin

Brian Newman

Studies of political participation and representation often contend that elected officials respond more to the preferences of voters than those of nonvoters, but seldom test this claim. This is a critical assumption because if true, biases in who participates will lead to biased representation. Office holders might respond disproportionately to voters’ preferences because voters tend to select like-minded representatives, voters tend to communicate their preferences more, and only voters can reelect representatives. We find that voter preferences predict the aggregate roll-call behavior of Senators while nonvoter preferences do not. We also present evidence supporting the three explanations advanced to account …

Beyond The End Of The Beginning, Daniel J. Palazzolo, Doug Chapin

Political Science Faculty Publications

The chapters in this volume contain detailed analyses of election reform politics in eleven states from 2001 to 2003. Over this three-year period, the states and Congress passed legislation that was designed to address the many serious problems with election administration that came to light during the 2000 presidential election. Each of the case studies revealed important insights about how the individual states responded to the 2000 presidential election and the requirements and incentives of the HAVA. The common framework of nine key factors for analyzing reform politics enables us to compare the results of the individual studies and determine …

Ticket Splitting In Arkansas Elections, Chase Carmichael

Honors Theses

The Republican Party is sweeping the South, or is it? Throughout the Old South Republicans have been making gains in an area that has traditionally been a bastion of Democratic strength in American politics. While Arkansas may appear to be following this trend, in reality GOP gains in the Natural State may be only superficial. Despite strong showings by Republican candidates for higher offices in Arkansas, a GOP contender has yet to win a statewide office past the Lieutenant Governor's race.

This research paper examines "ticket splitting" in Arkansas elections. Ticket splitting is the practice of voting for candidates of …