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The field of comparative political behavior has experienced an ironic course of development. Over the past generation, the field has generated a dramatic increase in the knowledge about how people think about politics, become politically engaged, and make their political decisions. Empirical data on citizen attitudes are now available on a near global scale. However, this increase in knowledge has occurred as the processes and structures of contemporary politics are transforming citizen politics. Thus, although more is known about contemporary electorates, the behavior of the public has become more complex and individualistic, which limits the ability to explain the behavior with the most common models. This article documents the expansion of this knowledge in several areas—political culture, political cognition, voting behavior, and political participation—and discusses the current research challenges facing the field.

The field of comparative political behavior has experienced an ironic course of development. Over the past generation, the field has generated a dramatic increase in the knowledge about how people think about politics, become politically engaged, & make their political decisions. Empirical data on citizen attitudes are now available on a near global scale. However, this increase in knowledge has occurred as the processes & structures of contemporary politics are transforming citizen politics. Thus, although more is known about contemporary electorates, the behavior of the public has become more complex & individualistic, which limits the ability to explain the behavior with the most common models. This article documents the expansion of this knowledge in several areas -- political culture, political cognition, voting behavior, & political participation -- & discusses the current research challenges facing the field. 124 References. Adapted from the source document.

Free elections are celebrations of the democratic process, and theGermans celebrated in an unprecedented way on September 27,1998. After sixteen years of Christian Democratic rule, the publicused its democratic power to change the government. Indeed, for thefirst time in the history of the Federal Republic, voters rejected a sittingchancellor and chose a new government through the ballot box.