The political system matters: social psychology and voting behavior in Sweden and the United States

Originally published in 1988, this book asks the question, how does the political system affect the behaviour of individuals? Donald Granberg and Sören Holmberg use long-term cross-sectional and panel national surveys of electorates in two very different democratic systems - Sweden and the United States - to examine an issue that has implications for our understanding of both social andpsychological processes and also political systems in general. Their interdisciplinary and comparative survey considers such topics as ideological perception of abstract and concrete issues at the party and individual level; the polarisation, interrelation and transitivity of attitudes; the relationship between intention and behaviour; and the ways in which behaviour may be predicted. The book offers a detailed and convincing analysis of the interaction of political context with social psychological processes. It will be of interest not only to social, political and comparative psychologists, but also to all researchers with an interest in electoral behaviour. INDICE: Acknowledgements; 1. Social psychological processes in political context; 2. Subjective ideology: left-right and liberal-conservative; 3. Partisan political issues; 4. Mass attitude systems; 5. Parties, leaders and candidates; 6. Ideology and proximity voting; 7. The preference-expectation link and voting behaviour; 8. From intention to behaviour in election campaigns; 9. Prior behaviour, recalled behaviour and the prediction of subsequent voting behaviour; 10. Political systems, cognitive-affective processes, and voting behaviour; Notes; References; Indexes.

• ISBN: 978-0-521-12584-0
• Editorial: Cambridge University
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 268
• Fecha Publicación: 14/01/2010
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés