Citizen Politics and Democracy

Since its first edition in 1988, Citizen Politics has provided a concise examination of citizens' political behavior and politicians' responses in advanced industrial democracies. It communicates findings from state-of-the-art research on parties, public opinion, and voters in a way that is at once accessible and comprehensive. It argues that ordinary people do, in fact, have what it takes to meet the demands of their roles as citizens in representative democracies. Informed by evidence from cross-national public opinion surveys, past editions of the book offered a tone of moderation-or perhaps guarded optimism-that leans against the more extreme, attention-grabbing approach of the 24-hour news cycle. The eighth edition will continue in this vein. The text will focus on opinion, voter choice, and political representation by comparing recent elections in the UK, France, Germany, and the United States. This four-nation comparison strikes the right balance between depth and breadth and does so in the space of 300 pages. The basic chapter structure will continue, with updated results from several new elections in each of the four core nations, new surveys, and new literature. This is essential to capture student and instructor interest. This new edition will focus more on the contemporary challenges facing democracies and their citizens. The attack at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, brought to the fore how much democratic stability requires the consent of the governed and respect for established rules and norms by citizens and elites. This and other events have pushed researchers to revisit foundational questions about the role of the citizen in a democracy. One innovation is that the new edition will focus more on how citizens' participation, values, opinions, and assessments contribute to how democracy does (or does not) work. Thus, we will rebrand the eighth edition as Citizen Politics and Democracy, to emphasize both continuity and change in mass politics.

Russell J. Dalton, Timothy Hellwig

1. Introduction Comparing Public Opinion across Nations Choosing Nations to Compare: Supply, Demand and Citizen Politics A New Style of Citizen Politics Citizen Politics and Democracy in the 21st Century Suggested Readings PART I: POLITICS AND THE PUBLIC 2. The Nature of Mass Beliefs The Supercitizen Reality Versus a Theoretical Ideal Elitist Theory of Democracy Political Sophistication Reconsidered Politics and the Public Suggested Readings 3. How We Participate Modes of Participation Voting Campaign Activity Direct Contacting Communal Activity Protest and Contentious Action Online Activism Changing Publics and Political Participation Suggested Readings 4. Who Participates? The Civic Voluntarism Model Who Votes? Campaign Activity Direct Contacting Communal Activity Who Protests? Online Activism Comparing the Correlates of Different Activities Participation and the Democratic Process Suggested Readings PART II. POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS 5. Values in Change The Nature of Value Change The Distribution of Values How Values Change The Consequences of Value Change Looking Toward the Future Suggested Readings 6. Issues and Ideological Orientations Socioeconomic Issues and the State Cultural Issues Foreign Policy Opinions Left/Right Orientations Public Opinion and Political Change Suggested Readings PART III. THE ELECTORAL CONNECTION 7. Elections and Political Parties The History of Party Systems Four Contemporary Party Systems The Structure of Political Alignments The U.S. Political Space The Political Space Cross-nationally Party Systems Today Suggested Readings 8. The Social Bases of Party Support The Logic of Social Group Voting Social Class and the Vote The Realignment of the Class Cleavage Religion and the Vote Other Social Group Differences The Transformation of Social Cleavages Suggested Readings 9. Partisanship and Voting A Sociopsychological Model of Voting Partisan Attitudes The Consequences of Partisanship Partisan Dealignment Causes of Dealignment The Consequences of Dealignment Cognitive Mobilization and Apartisans Politics in a Dealigned Era Suggested Readings 10. Attitudes and Voting Choice Principles of Issue Voting Position Issues and the Vote Policy Cleavages and the Vote Performance Issues and the Vote Candidate Images and the Vote The End of the Causal Funnel One Electorate or Many? Citizen Politics and Voting Behavior Suggested Readings 11. Political Representation Representation as Supply and Demand Dyadic Correspondence The Party Government Model The Impact of Representation Suggested Readings PART IV. DEMOCRACY AND THE FUTURE 12. Citizens and the Democratic Process The Types of Political Support Declining Confidence in Authorities Views of Political Institutions Support for a Democratic Regime Community Support Dissatisfied Democrats The New Style of Democratic Politics Citizen Politics and Democracy Suggested Readings Appendix A: Statistical Primer Appendix B: Major Data Sources