Facts and myths about American voters : an introduction -- Americans hate to love their party, but they do! -- Are American voters polarized? -- Who swings? -- Soccer moms and other myths about the gender gap -- The young and not-so-restless voters -- The partisan bias of turnout -- Campaign effects in the twenty-first century -- Hard facts and conventional wisdom as we look to the future
Summary:
Late deciders go for the challenger; turnout helps the Democrats; the gender gap results from a surge in Democratic preference among women--these and many other myths are standard fare among average citizens, political pundits, and even some academics. But are these conventional wisdoms--familiar to anyone who watches Sunday morning talk shows--really valid? Unconventional Wisdom offers a novel yet highly accessible synthesis of what we know about American voters and elections. It not only provides an integrated overview of the central themes in American politics--parties, polarization, turnout, partisan bias, campaign effects, swing voters, the gender gap, and the youth vote--it upends many of our fundamental preconceptions.