Suchergebnisse

RESULTS FROM A STUDY OF THE FACTORS RELATED TO FAMILY ENERGY CONSERVATION ARE EMPLOYED TO EVALUATE SOME ASSUMPTIONS OF AND PROSPECTS FOR ENERGY POLICY. HOME OWNERSHIP AND A VARIETY OF ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS ARE FOUND TO BE RELATED TO GENERAL CONSERVATION AS MEASURED BY AN INDEX CONSTRUCTED FROM 17 DIFFERENT CONSERVING ACTIVITIES.

RESULTS FROM STATEWIDE SURVEYS CONTAIN SIGNS OF AN EMERGING PARTISAN REALIGNMENT IN FLORIDA SINCE EARLY 1980. AFTER A PERIOD OF STABILITY IN THE RELATIVE SIZES OF THE MASS PARTY COALITIONS, A SURGE IN REPUBLICAN PARTY INDENTIFIERS AND A PARALLEL DECLINE IN DEMOCRATS APPEARED IN THE MONTHS AFTER THE 1980 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. THIS SURGE HAS BEEN SUSTAINED THROUGH JANUARY 1982. PARTISAN CHANGES DURING THIS PERIOD WERE PRONOUNCED AMONG CONSERVATIVES AND THE YOUNG, OLDER VOTERS AS WELL, BUT THEY ARE SMALLER AND CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR LARGELY BY THE ACQUISITION OF PARTISANSHIP BY NONPARTISANS.

THIS STUDY EXAMINES CONSISTENCY IN OPINION ON A VARIETY OF IMPORTANT STATE AND NATIONAL POLICY QUESTIONS. THE DATA COME FROM A TWO-WAVE PANEL STUDY OF ADULT FLORIDIANS CONDUCTED IN 1981 AND 1982. WIDE VARIATIONS IN CONSISTENCY OF OPINION OVER THE 1-YEAR PERIOD ARE FOUND. SALIENCE HAS AN IMPORTANT IMPACT ON CONSISTENCY, WITH RESPONDENTS WHO FIND AN ISSUE SALIENT ALMOST ALWAYS EXHIBITING MORE CONSISTENT OPINIONS, BUT SALIENCE CANNOT EXPLAIN THE VARIATIONS IN CONSISTENCY ACROSS ISSUES. THE LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT ON WHICH THE ISSUE IS FOCUSED (NATIONAL OR STATE) HAS NO BEARING ON CONSISTENCY. MOST IMPORTANT, THE PARTICULAR NATURE OF THE ISSUE ITSELF, ESPECIALLY HOW CENTRAL IT IS TO THE INDIVIDUAL AND HOW LONG IT HAS OCCUPIED THE POLITICAL AGENDA (MATURITY), AFFECTS CONSISTENCY OF OPINION. CENTRALITY AND MATURITY BOTH CONTRIBUTE TO ISSUE ATTITUDE CONSISTENCY AND EVEN CAN COMPENSATE FOR ONE ANOTHER.

THE PREMISE OF THIS ARTICLE IS THAT ADULT PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS IS AFFECTED BY STRONG PREADULT FORCES IN ADDITION TO THE CONTEMPORANEOUS FACTORS EMPHASIZED BY RECENT STUDIES. TO TEST THIS PREMISE, DATA ARE DRAWN FROM THE 1965-1973 NATIONAL SOCIALIZATION PANEL STUDY OF YOUNG AMERICANS AND THEIR PARENTS. FOUR CAUSAL MODELS DEPICTING PATHWAYS TO PARTICIPATION AMONG YOUNG ADULTS ARE EVALUATED; EACH INCLUDES CIVIC ORIENTATIONS AS INTERVENING VARIABLES. THREE OF THE MODELS ASSESS THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF PARENTAL CHARACTERISTICS-SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, POLITICAL ACTIVITY, AND CIVIC ORIENTATIONS. THE FOURTH MODEL ASSESSES THE IMPACT OF ADOLESCENT INVOLVEMENT IN HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES. TAKEN INDIVIDUALLY, EACH PATHWAY IS SHOWN TO HAVE AN EFFECT ON ADULT PARTICIPATION, WITH PARENT SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM HAVING THE MOST IMPACT. WHEN THE FOUR PATHWAYS ARE COMBINED IN A SINGLE MODEL TO REFLECT THE CONNECTIONS AMONG THEM, ALL REMAIN IMPORTANT. THE COMBINED MODEL ILLUSTRATES THE IMPORTANCE OF A VARIETY OF METHODS OF POLITICAL LEARNING. THE COMBINED MODEL ALSO DEMONSTRATES THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF CIVIC ORIENTATIONS IN CONVERTING PREADULT EXPERIENCES INTO LATER PARTICIPATION. CIVIC ORIENTATIONS ARE THE PRIMARY CARRIERS OF PREADULT POLITICAL LEARNING. OVERALL, THE RESULTS REBUT THE CRITICS OF SOCIALIZATION RESEARCH WHO HAVE QUESTIONED THE EXISTENCE OF A LINKAGE BETWEEN EARLY LEARNING AND ADULT POLITICAL BEHAVIOR.

ALTHOUGH THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF DIVIDED GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES IS VOTERS WHO SPLIT THEIR BALLOTS BETWEEN PARTIES, THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION OF EITHER PATTERNS OR SOURCES OF TICKET-SPLITTING IN RECENT YEARS. INSTEAD, DIVERGENT LINES OF RESEARCH HAVE EMPHASIZED SUCH ELEMENTS AS VOTER PARTISANSHIP, INCUMBENCY, AND A "NEW" (YOUNG, WELL-EDUCATED, EVEN PARTISAN) KIND OF TICKET-SPLITTER, AND THE FOCUS HAS TOO OFTEN BEEN RESTRICTED TO THE ATYPICAL PRESIDENT-CONGRESS PAIR. THE AUTHORS UNIFY THESE RESEARCH TRADITIONS IN A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF SPLIT-TICKET VOTING AND TEST IT ACROSS THE PARTISAN BALLOT IN A TYPICAL ELECTION SETTING--THE CONTESTS FOR FIVE OHIO STATEWIDE OFFICES IN 1990. THE MODEL INCORPORATES PARTISAN STRENGTH, CANDIDATE VISIBILITY, AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT DISTINGUISH THE "NEW" TICKET-SPLITTERS. THE RESULTS SUPPORT THE PARTISAN-STRENGTH AND CANDIDATE-VISIBILITY EXPLANATIONS BUT PROVIDE LITTLE SUPPORT FOR THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW TYPE OF TICKET-SPLITTER.