TY - JOUR
T1 - Strategic voting in the California recall election
AU - Shaw, Daron
AU - Mckenzie, Mark J.
AU - Underwood, Feffrey
PY - 2005/3
Y1 - 2005/3
N2 - Given people's interest in all things California, the novelty of the recall mechanism, and the presence of a bona fide action hero in the race, it is not surprising that the 2003 California recall election attracted an inordinate amount of national attention. The circus-like atmosphere should not, however, obscure the interesting implications of the recall election for our understanding of the broader phenomenon of strategic voting. We argue that partisans faced two different strategic voting scenarios in California, with Democrats confronting a slightly more subtle set of criteria and circumstances than Republicans. Drawing on individual-level survey data designed to gauge candidate affect and second-choice preferences, we find that strategic voting was common (although by no means unanimous) among those whose preferences placed them in a position to cast such a strategic vote.
AB - Given people's interest in all things California, the novelty of the recall mechanism, and the presence of a bona fide action hero in the race, it is not surprising that the 2003 California recall election attracted an inordinate amount of national attention. The circus-like atmosphere should not, however, obscure the interesting implications of the recall election for our understanding of the broader phenomenon of strategic voting. We argue that partisans faced two different strategic voting scenarios in California, with Democrats confronting a slightly more subtle set of criteria and circumstances than Republicans. Drawing on individual-level survey data designed to gauge candidate affect and second-choice preferences, we find that strategic voting was common (although by no means unanimous) among those whose preferences placed them in a position to cast such a strategic vote.
KW - California recall
KW - Political participation
KW - Public opinion
KW - Strategic voting
KW - Turnout
KW - Voting behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=14544300974&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1532673X04272230
DO - 10.1177/1532673X04272230
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:14544300974
SN - 1532-673X
VL - 33
SP - 216
EP - 245
JO - American Politics Research
JF - American Politics Research
IS - 2
ER -