The American Political Science Review by Westel Willoughby - Essay Example

The banker contradicts the peasant’s judgment on the state, he or she judges the government based on a future goal that it works towards realizing. Economics manipulates and dictates political behavior. Administrations lose supporters in seasons of hard times while a massive gain of the supporters seen in good times. The two models involving both retrospective and prospective of the index of consumer sentiment as contradicting variables between economic conditions and approval, it is found out that the probable component adequately accounts for the presidential approval time series.

The next article voting successfully addresses an average voter as one who falls far short of the prescriptions of classic autonomous hypothesis in terms of interest, facts, and participation in politics. The authors suggest a more realistic standard involving the citizens fulfilling their democratic duties by voting correctly. Five decades of behavioral research in political science reveals that only a tiny marginal of the citizens in any democracy live up to the lines and goals of democracy.

Interests in politics become generally weak, political discussions limited, and political knowledge is diminishing. The result leads to the majority of American citizens not participating actively in politics beyond voting. The determination of voters on their correct vote choices can be predicted reasonably well using the widely available survey data. The authors illustrate how the prediction can help in determining the proportion of the voters voting correctly, which they calculate at about 75 percent for the five US presidential elections between 1972 and 1988.

The third article is a decisive study of voting in America and talks about the American voter. Michigan model is a theory formulated on voter choice. Based on all-inclusive studies of election study data in America, most voters cast their ballots primarily prompted by inherited partisan identification while independent voters, on the other hand, are least involved and pay lesser attention to politics. The authors argue that American voters learn about the parties to vote for from their parents and socialization.

The psychological attachment formed and this is a determinant of future voting. Most of the voting public lacked a well-formed political belief system and had the inability to think independently. The authors challenge the citizens to be far more sophisticated and rational than they were at the articles setting time. The authors argue against alignment mentality and support decline in partisan identification. The decline aims to discourage new voters from aligning themselves to a party.