Policy voting, projection, and persuasion: an application of balance theory to electoral behavior

Abstract

In this article differences between rational, policy-based, and rationalized voting are discussed, and it is argued that these forms of electoral decision making are not properly analyzed in existing electoral studies. Policy voting, persuasion, and projection are then redefined as three possible ways of restoring balance among imbalanced triads of political beliefs and attitudes. With the help of the Chernobyl nuclear plants issue it is shown that persuasion and projection are far more important ways of restoring balance than policy voting.