The Historical Significance of Economic Voting, 1872–1996

Abstract

Ever since the publication of Voting (Berelson et al. 1954), individual-level electoral studies have underscored the predictive utility of attitudes on voting behavior. More recently, developments in social psychology have led political scientists to examine closely the process by which attitudes guide behavior (Fazio 1986; Aldrich et al. 1989). Findings in this research generally suggest that attitudes must be available and accessible if they are to exert any influence on perceptions, judgments, or behavior.