The Macro Polity

by Robert S. Erikson, Michael B. Mackuen, James A. Stimson

Overview

The Macro Polity provides the first comprehensive model of American politics at the system level. Focusing on the interactions between citizen evaluations and preferences, government activity and policy, and how the combined acts of citizens and governments influence one another over time, it integrates understandings of matters such as economic outcomes, presidential approval, partisanship, elections, and government policy-making into a single model. The book's macro and longitudinal focus makes it possible to directly connect the behaviors of electorate and government.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521563895
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/28/2001
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.26(d)

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. A model of the macro polity; Part I. Performance: 2. Presidential approval; 3. Presidential approval, the economy, and the future; 4. Macro partisanship: the permanent memory of party performance; 5. The group composition of macropartisan trends; Part II. Policy: 6. Public opinion; 7. Elections; 8. Public opinion and policy-making; 9. A governing system: laws and public opinion; Part III. American Politics as a System: 10. The macropolitical system; 11. The macro polity and democratic performance; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The authors of this ambitious, important work have crafted a dynamic 'macro' model of many aspects of US public opinion, when taken as a whole.... [T]he book's analysis is detailed and clear.... The Macro Polity is an impressive work that will be controversial and influential. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above." Choice

"[This] long-awaited book does not disappoint. It is the first comprehensive study of U.S. macro political system dynamics over time. Their aggregate research design generates novel findings that are fundamental to politics and political science...Two pathbreaking contributions will linger with readers for a long time: first, the authors' work on drawing critical linkages among important macro processes that are typically studied in isolation, and second, the synergy the authors create by bringing together the two fields of micro and macro political behavior. Their extensive work accomplishes so much by shifting the perspective of political scientists. The Macro Polity will undoubtedly affect the research agenda of many scholars for years to come. It will be an early entry on any list of 'The Classics' in political science." Perspectives on Politics

From the Publisher