Elections and Voting

Piecing Together the American Voting Puzzle: How Voters’ Personalities and Judgments of Issue Importance Mattered in the 2016 Presidential Election

“…Because the recent literature indicated that economic issues might be of decreased importance to voters (Redding, Barwis & Summers, ), we examined the relative importance of each set of issues to each other. In fact, in our data, group rights and social justice issues were rated significantly more highly in W1 than both economic issues , ∆ m = .41, t = 5.27, p < .001, and individual and national rights issues , ∆ m = .50, t = 7.68, p < .001; and individual and national rights issues were rated least highly, though not quite significantly lower than economic, ∆ m = −.09, t = −1.62, p = .107, with economic issues falling in between.…”

“…Issues clustered into three types: group rights and social justice issues , which are those often associated with left‐wing/liberal candidates and voters; economic issues at both the policy and the individual's experience level; and individual and national rights , which are those often associated with right‐wing/conservative candidates and voters. The first and third have both been identified as part of the polarized culture of American electoral politics, while economic issues have been viewed as more broadly salient to both poles, and perhaps of declining overall importance (see Redding et al., for a review). Although in our study economic issues did not mediate the link between vote choice and personality, there was some evidence of their importance.…”

“…According to one theory, “Voters, regardless of the democracy in which they live, assess national economic conditions and reward or punish the politicians responsible for those conditions,” (Lewis‐Beck & Stegmaier, , p. 212). However, research shows that the electoral importance of economic issues (e.g., taxes, economic growth and national debt) has declined, as the importance of group rights and social justice issues and individual and national rights issues have increased in the last three decades (see Redding, Barwis, & Summers, for a review). At the same time, there is evidence of a strong relationship between electoral outcomes and economic issues in the United States and other Western democracies, such as France, Denmark, and Britain (see Lewis‐Beck & Stegmaier, for a review).…”

Out of Step? Voters and Social Issues in U.S. Presidential Elections

“…We believe that these issues are important ones for scholars of voting and elections. Established theory and research has tended to focus on economics, partisanship, and domestic and foreign policy evaluations as central mechanisms behind voter choice and the outcome of elections (Lewis‐Beck and Stegmeier ; Levendusky ; Redding, Barwis, and Summers ). Noneconomic issues relating to identity, rights, sexuality, and gender have been a secondary and at times minor focus of scholarship.…”