This study used regional telephone survey data collected after the 1996 U.S. presidential election to examine how two possibly important affective variables—public mood and political cynicism—predict actual as compared with self-reported voting. Public mood, a construct introduced by Rahn, Kroeger, and Kite (1996) to suggest how affective processes may play a role in political behavior, is show...

Due to the legacy of apartheid segregation South Africa remains a divided society where most voters live in politically homogenous social environments. This paper argues that political discussion within one’s social context plays a primary role in shaping political attitudes and vote choice. Using data from the Comparative National Elections Project 2004 and 2009 South African post-election sur...

There is scant evidence that incidental cues in the environment significantly alter people's political judgments and behavior in a durable way. We report that a brief exposure to the American flag led to a shift toward Republican beliefs, attitudes, and voting behavior among both Republican and Democratic participants, despite their overwhelming belief that exposure to the flag would not influe...

Political geography has long played a prominent role in conceptions of political realignments. In this paper, I apply a spatial analysis to examine the political geography of voting during one of the principal political realignments in American electoral history, the 1928-1936 Democratic realignment. The spatial analysis challenges some of our common conceptions of this realignment. For example...

Objective. The etiology of active parenting remains almost entirely unexplored in political socialization. Applying ecological and dialectic perspectives, we propose a model of developmental provocation to capture contributions of youth to a politicization of parenting during campaigns. Methods. Parent-youth dyads in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida were interviewed across two election cycles. Ad...