Follow the Leader?: How Voters Respond to Politicians' Policies and Performance

Follow the Leader?: How Voters Respond to Politicians' Policies and Performance
ISBN-10
0226472132
ISBN-13
9780226472133
Category
Political Science
Pages
341
Language
English
Published
2012-10-15
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Author
Gabriel S. Lenz

Description

"Lenz looks at citizens' views of candidates both before and after periods of political upheaval, including campaigns, wars, natural disasters, and episodes of economic boom and bust. Noting important shifts in voters' knowledge and preferences as a result of these events, he finds that, while citizens do assess politicians based on their performance, their policy positions actually matter much less. Even when a policy issue becomes highly prominent, voters rarely shift their votes to the politician whose position best agrees with their own. In fact, Lenz shows, the reverse often takes place: citizens first pick a politician and then adopt that politician's policy views. In other words, they follow the leader."--Publisher's web-site.

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