Shortcuts versus encyclopedias: information and voting behavior in California insurance reform elections
Abstract
Voters in mass elections are notorious for their apparent lack of information about relevant political matters. While some scholars argue that an electorate of well-informed voters is necessary for the production of responsive electoral outcomes, others argue that apparently ignorant voters will suffice because they can adapt their behavior to the complexity of electoral choice. To evaluate the validity of these arguments, I develop and analyze a survey of California voters who faced five complicated insurance reform ballot initiatives. I find that access to a particular class of widely available information shortcuts allowed badly informed voters to emulate the behavior of relatively well informed voters. This finding is suggestive of the conditions under which voters who lack encyclopedic information about the content of electoral debates can nevertheless use information shortcuts to vote as though they were well informed.
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Most citizens know relatively little about many criminal justice institutions, yet public judgments of policy interventions often emerge from limited, context-specific information.
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Learning About Voter Rationality
Ashworth, S., de Mesquita, E. B., & Friedenberg, A. (2018) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1111/ajps.12334 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Changing Minds: Political Arguments and Political Persuasion
Cobb, M. D., & Kuklinski, J. H. (1997) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.2307/2111710 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Opinion change and voting behaviour in referendums
LeDuc, L. (2002) · European Journal of Political Research · doi:10.1111/1475-6765.00027 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Gabel, M. J. (1998) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.2307/2991736 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
The Simplest Shortcut of All: Sociodemographic Characteristics and Electoral Choice
Cutler, F. (2002) · The Journal of Politics · doi:10.1111/1468-2508.00135 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Toward a Broader Understanding of Presidential Power: A Reevaluation of the Two Presidencies Thesis
Canes‐Wrone, B., Howell, W. G., & Lewis, D. E. (2008) · The Journal of Politics · doi:10.1017/s0022381607080061 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Yang, K., & Pandey, S. K. (2011) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02417.x · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Dominating Cues and the Limits of Elite Influence
Nicholson, S. P. (2011) · The Journal of Politics · doi:10.1017/s002238161100082x · Cited by 217 · see citing works
“…dominate peripheral cues such as party labels (Arceneaux 2008; Malhotra and Kuo 2008) but most research on source cues suggests that they dominate other considerations (e.g., Bowler and Donovan 1998; Cohen 2003; Goren, Federico, and Kittilson 2009; Kuklinski and Hurley 1994; Lupia 1994; Rahn 1993).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialCandidate Choice Without Party Labels:
Kirkland, P. A., & Coppock, A. (2017) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11109-017-9414-8 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
“Indeed, some evidence suggests that heuristics can enable lowinformation voters to make nearly the same choices they would make if they were fully informed (Althaus 2003; Lupia 1994).”
BackgroundFeld, L. P., & Kirchgäßner, G. (2000) · European Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1016/s0176-2680(00)00003-3 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Why multilateralism? Foreign aid and domestic principal-agent problems
Milner, H. V. (2006) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511491368.005 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Evolving Judgments of Terror Risks: Foresight, Hindsight, and Emotion.
Fischhoff, B., Gonzalez, R. M., Lerner, J. S., & Small, D. A. (2005) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied · doi:10.1037/1076-898x.11.2.124 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Ambivalence, Information, and Electoral Choice
Basinger, S. J., & Lavine, H. G. (2005) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055405051580 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Minorities and Direct Legislation: Evidence from California Ballot Proposition Elections
Hajnal, Z. L., Gerber, E. R., & Louch, H. (2002) · The Journal of Politics · doi:10.1111/1468-2508.00122 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Popular Support for Direct Democracy
Donovan, T., & Karp, J. A. (2006) · Party Politics · doi:10.1177/1354068806066793 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
“Although there is ample evidence suggesting that readily available cues assist people in making such decisions (Bowler and Donovan, 1998; Lupia, 1994), the act of participating in a referendum nevertheless presents the citizens with additional cognitive costs of participation.”
Background
- Authors
- Lupia, A.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lupia, Arthur
- ORCID
- Lupia, Arthur
- Venue
- American Political Science Review
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1994-03
- Volume
- 88
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 63-76
- ISSN
- 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5943
- OpenAlex
- W2012728340
- Cited by
- 1,850
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 53 · 2025: 63 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 79 · 2022: 99 · 2021: 82 · 2020: 119 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 118 · 2017: 65 · 2016: 73 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 81 · 2012: 69
- FWCI
- 57.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Game Theory and Voting Systems
- Keywords
- voter information, encyclopedic knowledge, voting behavior, ballot initiatives, insurance reform, California elections
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