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Congressional Elections: The Case of the Vanishing Marginals
Abstract
Party gains and losses in House seats constitute one instrument, however imperfect, for voter influence on the national government, Mayhew suggests. But the data indicate that "the House seat swing is a phenomenon of fast declining amplitude and therefore of fast declining significance." In the 1956-72 period the number of districts with close House elections dropped precipitously; a similar, if slow, long-range decline has been occurring. We don't really know the causes, but Mayhew indicates possible causes and asks us to ponder the consequences. The piece is replete with numbers, but clearly they are handmaiden to an inquiry into politics. The paper was originally presented at the Spring, 1973 New England Political Science Association meetings.
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Citations
Cited by
Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Established Democracies since 1945
Franklin, M. N., Eijk, C. V. D., Evans, D., Fotos, M., Hirczy de Mino, W., Marsh, M., & Wessels, B. (2004) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511616884 · Cited by 1,421
Partisanship and Voting Behavior, 1952-1996
Bartels, L. M. (2000) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.2307/2669291 · Cited by 1,207
Constituency Opinion and Congressional Policy Making: The Reagan Defense Buildup
Bartels, L. M. (1991) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.2307/1963169 · Cited by 462
A Political Economy Model of Congressional Careers
Diermeier, D., Keane, M., & Merlo, A. (2005) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/0002828053828464 · Cited by 452
Elections and the Regression Discontinuity Design: Lessons from Close U.S. House Races, 1942–2008
Caughey, D., & Sekhon, J. S. (2011) · Political Analysis · doi:10.1093/pan/mpr032 · Cited by 331
Metadata
- Authors
- Mayhew, D. R.
- Venue
- Polity
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 1974-03
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 295-317
- ISSN
- 0032-3497 (ISSN-L)
- 1744-1684
- OpenAlex
- W2103490188
- Cited by
- 586
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 45.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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