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SUMMARY
Despite the fact that politics is everywhere, ordinary voters
don’t pay much attention to politics. Turnout rates are mod-
est, and people know relatively little about the candidates
and their positions. While some voters are highly interested
in politics and vote after collecting all the information they
can about the candidates, most voters rely on voting cues for
their vote choice.KEY TERMS
paradox of voting (p. 212)
voting cues (p. 213)
normal election (p. 214)
coattails (p. 214)
split ticket (p. 214)
straight ticket (p. 214)CRITICAL THINKING AND DISCUSSION
Using cues to make vote decisions lowers the cost of voting,
in terms of the time and eff ort involved in a voter’s deci-
sion. Under what conditions will cues help a voter to make
the right choice in an election? (“The right choice” may be
defi ned as the same choice that would result from having
complete information about the candidates.) Under what
conditions will cues lead a voter to make the wrong choice?PRACTICE QUIZ QUESTIONS- The paradox of voting is this: Why does anyone vote,
given that __?
a) voting is costly, and the chances of aff ecting the
outcome are small
b) voting is costly and approval for government is
high.
c) voting is easy, and the chances of aff ecting the
outcome are large
d) voting is easy, but informing yourself about the
candidates takes time
e) approval for government is low, but turnout rates
are high- Voters who rely on voting cues to determine their vote
choice are _____.
a) likely to cast a reasonable vote, regardless of their
information level
b) unlikely to cast a reasonable vote, regardless of
their information level
c) likely to cast a reasonable vote, and more so if they
are informed
d) unlikely to cast a reasonable vote, and less so if
they are informed
e) neither more nor less likely to cast a reasonable
vote than voters who ignore cues - Weak coattails and split tickets serve as indicators that
__.
a) most voters don’t know anything about the
candidates
b) most elections are determined by local issues
c) most elections are determined by national issues
d) most voters use political parties as their dominant
voting cue
e) most voters use incumbency as their dominant
voting cue
S PRACTICE ONLINE
“What Do Political Scientists Do?” video exercise:
Party Identifi cation and Independent VotersHOW DO VOTERS DECIDE?
E Explain the key factors that infl uence voters’ choices. Pages 210–15
226 CHAPTER 7|ELECTIONS