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Leaders' Personalities, and the Outcomes of Democratic Elections
By Anthony King
0 - Default Title
Description
This study by eminent scholars on both sides of the Atlantic suggests that the conventional wisdom is wrong. Survey research conducted in recent decades indicates that relatively few voters are swayed by candidates¹
personal characteristics. Far more important are voters' longstanding party loyalties, their views on issues, and their judgments of how well or badly presidents and parties have performedor will performin office. The votes
of even the few electors who are swayed by candidates' personalities usually cancel each other out.
As a result, election outcomes are seldom decided by individual candidates' personal images. Occasionally, but not often. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton owed their election victories more to economics than to charm. At the end of World War II, the charismatic Winston Churchill lost the 1945 British general election; the colorless Clement Attlee won. Chancellor Helmut Kohl remained in power in Germany for a generation-but was never
personally popular. Russian voters reckoned that Boris Yeltsin could not hold his drink- but nevertheless elected him.
The implications of the authors' analyses are profound. They suggest that modern democratic politics is not nearly as candidate-centered and personality-oriented as is often supposed. They also suggest that parties' policies and their performance in office usually count for far more than the men and women they choose as their leaders. Not least, the authors suggest that the efforts of political consultants, advertising agencies, and spin
doctors are often misdirected.
Product details
Edition:
1
Number of Pages:
248
Release Date:
2002-05-23
Publication Date:
2002-03-21
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
Languages:
Original:
English
ISBN10:
0198297912
ISBN13:
9780198297918
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
Weight:
540 g
Height:
161 cm
Width:
240 cm
Thickness:
18 cm
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