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I argue, and test using data from the 2000 Mexican elections, the following assertions: perceptions of issue space condition the weights voters assign to policy stances and these perceptions in turn are affected by both individual and contextual variables. By perceptions of issue space I mean the choice candidates appear to offer on a given issue. The principal data I use come from the Mexico 2000 Panel Study; hypotheses are tested using multinomial logit and OLS analyses. The first set of results supports the thesis that perceptions of issue space condition the tendency for individuals to select leaders on the basis of select policy stances. The second set demonstrates that individual characteristics, structural constraints, and candidates' rhetorical strategies (the latter mediated by partisan leanings) all affect perceptions of issue space. Combined, these findings have important implications for understanding voting behavior in young and old democracies alike. [Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ltd.]

Ideological labels are theoretically useful tools with which individuals comprehend, discuss, and engage in politics. Their actual significance, however, varies. We assess how select individual and contextual factors systematically affect individuals' use and understandings of the classic left-right dimension in Latin America. Using data from the 2010 AmericasBarometer survey, we show that although education, political interest, and political sophistication help citizens place themselves on the ideological continuum, context also matters such that polarization (positively), fragmentation (negatively), and volatility (negatively) affect left-right response. Our analyses further demonstrate that, generally speaking, placements on the left-right scale are linked to individuals' stances on economic, democratic, religious, and social issues, but context matters in important ways here as well. In short, ideological labels in Latin America hold important potential for orienting citizens within the political arena, but their utility is constrained in important ways at both the individual and contextual levels. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]

Ideological labels are theoretically useful tools with which individuals comprehend, discuss, and engage in politics. Their actual significance, however, varies. We assess how select individual and contextual factors systematically affect individuals' use and understandings of the classic left–right dimension in Latin America. Using data from the 2010 AmericasBarometer survey, we show that although education, political interest, and political sophistication help citizens place themselves on the ideological continuum, context also matters such that polarization (positively), fragmentation (negatively), and volatility (negatively) affect left–right response. Our analyses further demonstrate that, generally speaking, placements on the left–right scale are linked to individuals' stances on economic, democratic, religious, and social issues, but context matters in important ways here as well. In short, ideological labels in Latin America hold important potential for orienting citizens within the political arena, but their utility is constrained in important ways at both the individual and contextual levels.

How do threats of terrorism affect the opinions of citizens? Speculation abounds, but until now no one had marshaled hard evidence to explain the complexities of this relationship. Drawing on data from surveys and original experiments they conducted in the United States and Mexico, Jennifer Merolla and Elizabeth Zechmeister demonstrate how our strategies for coping with terrorist threats significantly influence our attitudes toward fellow citizens, political leaders, and foreign nations. The authors reveal, for example, that some people try to restore a sense of order and control through incr