Candidates' Ideological Locations, Abstention, and Turnout in U.S. Midterm Senate Elections

Securing the base: electoral competition under variable turnout

“…The Zipp (1985) and Thurner and Eymann (2000). This contrasts with the work of Plane and Gershtenson (2004) who find support for both types of variable abstention in U.S. Senate elections between 1988 and 1992. Table 3 reports the positions of the median voter and the candidates in each election.…”

“…Since the base rate of turnout is smaller in midterm elections, there is more room for variable turnout to have a substantial effect. In fact, Plane and Gershtenson (2004) find more convincing evidence for abstention due to alienation in midterm Senate elections. The positions taken by candidates in such elections may have larger effects on voter turnout and, hence, create stronger incentives for vote-maximizing politicians to move away from the center.…”

“…Thurner and Eymann (2000) find some support for abstention due to indifference in German general elections. Plane and Gershtenson (2004) find support for abstention due to alienation and indifference in U.S. Senate elections. swing voters.…”

Individual campaign contributions and candidate ideology

“…Under this scenario, a candidate may benefit from adopting a more extreme policy position because of the net gain in campaign contributions, which could be used to mobilize likely supporters, attract uniformed and undecided voters, or both (Aldrich, 1983(Aldrich, , 1995Moon 2004). This distinction about the behavior of campaign contributors is analogous to the distinction made in the literature on voter participation between "abstention from alienation" and "abstention from indifference" Ordeshook 1969, 1970;Hinich et al 1972;Adams 2001;Adams and Merrill 2003;Plane and Gershtenson 2004). For example, Adams and Merrill (2003) show that if voters abstain from alienation (when participation depends only on the proximity of the nearest candidate), candidates will diverge in the policy space.…”

Spatial and Temporal Proximity: Examining the Effects of Protests on Political Attitudes

“…There is a considerable literature that indicates that feelings of political alienation in turn shape other political attitudes and behaviors, with people who feel alienated less likely to participate in voting and other political activities (Gilliam and Kaufman 1988;Kuklinski 2001;Tate 2003). For their part, trust and efficacy have been positively linked to political participation (Hetherington 1999;Plane and Gershtenson 2004) and political attitudes (Bobo and Hutchings 1996;Mabry and Kiecolt 2005; but see Seligson 1983). In short, people who feel a sense of efficacy and trust are more likely to participate in politics, while those who feel alienated from politics are unlikely to make political participation their preferred avenue to address grievances.…”