Campaign Dynamics: The Race for Governor. By Thomas M. Carsey. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000. 232p. $49.50.

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-210
Author(s):  
Nelson C. Dometrius
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
State Politics ◽  
National Election ◽  
Confounding Factors ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Campaign Strategy ◽  
Science Laboratories ◽  
Ann Arbor

Carsey presents a sound piece of research planted solidly in two fields: voting behavior and state politics. The primary thrust is testing a model of campaign strategy and voter reaction. Carsey takes advantage, as have many recently, of the steadily accumulating state campaign and exit polling data. Although not nearly as rich as the American National Election Survey (ANES) in content, these data provide reliable state samples and an abundance of cases in each state, which the ANES seldom does. We now often can use the states as true social science laboratories of democracy- expanding N without adding the confounding factors that plague across-time comparisons of national elections.

CONTEXT MATTERS! RACE, REPRESENTATION, AND PUBLIC OPINION

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-150
Author(s):  
Paula D. McClain
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Group Conflict ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
Ann Arbor ◽  
American Cities ◽  
Black Faces

Katherine Tate, Black Faces in the Mirror: African Americans and Their Representatives in Congress. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003, 224 pages, ISBN: 0-691-09155-2, Cloth, $18.95; ISBN: 0-691-11786-1, Paper, $18.95.Karen M. Kaufmann, The Urban Voter: Group Conflict and Mayoral Voting Behavior in American Cities. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004, 248 pages, ISBN: 0-472-09857-8, Cloth, $60.00; ISBN: 0-472-06857-1, Paper, $24.95.Vincent L. Hutchings, Public Opinion and Democratic Accountability: How Citizens Learn about Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003, 192 pages, ISBN: 0-691-11416-1, Cloth, $35.00.

Learning by Voting: Sequential Choices in Presidential Primaries and Other Elections By Rebecca B. Morton and Kenneth C. Williams. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001. 184p. $55.00.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 648-649
Author(s):  
Lonna Rae Atkeson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary System ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Presidential Primary ◽  
Presidential Primaries ◽  
Ann Arbor ◽  
Sequential Voting

While most elections in the United States are simultaneous (with all voters casting their ballots on the same day), there are elections, such as the presidential primary system, in which voters cast their ballots over an extended period of time. Sequential voting poses an interesting puzzle for scholars of voting behavior, particularly given the information flow of elections, but also the strategic considerations of what is effectively an iterated process over time. Presidential primaries are essentially a sequence or series of state party races that begin in early February and last until June of a presidential election year. Although not precisely the same as the presidential primary process, mail-in balloting or early voting, whereby some voters, especially stronger partisans, choose to cast their ballots prior to election day, offers another example of sequential voting in the United States.

Peter Suedfeld, (Ed.). Light from the Ashes: Social Science Careers of Young Holocaust Refugees and Survivors. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001.

2003 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-137
Author(s):  
Brian Schiff
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Science Careers ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Ann Arbor ◽  
Sciences Sociales

RÉSUMÉLe livre intitulé Light from the Ashes est un recueil important de 17 autobiographies écrites par des chercheurs du domaine des sciences sociales et qui ont vécu l'holocauste soit en se cachant en Europe, soit en prenant la fuite de l'Allemagne Nazi avant le début de la guerre. Les auteurs proviennent de plusieurs disciplines des sciences sociales. Chacun a été demandé de retracer le lien entre ses expériences durant la guerre et son choix de recherches ultérieures. Sous réflexion, la majorité affirme que l'holocauste a effectivement joué un rôle important dans leur choix de carrière. Bien que nous ne pourrions jamais déterminer le rapport de cause à effet du passé sur le présent, ces histoires reflètent la capacité humaine d'interpréter le passé par le bias du présent. Le livre Light from the Ashes offre une contribution important à notre compréhension de la capacité humaine de fonder une famille, une carrière et une histoire de vie significative suivant des interruptions et des privations considérables antérieures.

State Learning and International Change. Andrew Farkas. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998. 208p. $50.00.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-260
Author(s):  
Erik Gartzke
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Biological Models ◽  
Ann Arbor ◽  
Biological Learning ◽  
State Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Biological Selection

Learning would seem to be a natural topic for the academic study of international politics. Interest in dynamic processes, however, and in learning, in particular, has been uneven, while the impact of contributions to date has been mixed. State Learning and International Change provides a thorough, thoughtful application of a complex biological learning model to international politics. The text is engaging and well written. Modeling and philosophy of science issues are addressed with aplomb and humor. For example, the author refers to the residue from social Darwinist applications of biological models to social science as “pesky,” discusses stocasticity and pleiotropy with reference to striped and spotted cross-eyed bandersnatches, and mentions “deranged mutant-killer-monster snow goons” as a possible method of biological selection, all in the space of a few pages (pp. 59–67).

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