Although other factors are important to determining voters’ affinities toward the two parties and their choice of presidential candidates, family income seems to have a predictable impact on presidential choice.
Voters with lower family incomes tend to vote Democratic whereas voters with higher family incomes tend to support Republican candidates.
Note that CNN reported exit poll data that demonstrates that John Kerry fared better among lower income voters and was less likely to win among higher income voters.
Principle of Politics #1. All political behavior has a purpose. All political actors engage in instrumental acts designed to further their individual goals.
Examining the figure, answer the following questions:
Question 1: How might the respective images of the Democratic and Republican Parties account for this relationship between income and presidential vote choice?
Question 2: What specific policy proposals and campaign promises made by John Kerry and George W. Bush might also account for this relationship?
Question 3: What are the limitations to understanding vote choice as an instrumental act based solely (or even primarily) on personal economics?
Factors other than income (such as the race, ethnicity, and gender of the voter) might be just as or more important in determining Presidential vote choice.
What other issues were important in the 2004 Presidential election?
In the 2004 election, many voters cast their ballots focused on issues other than their personal finances.
Party and ideology. In 2004, most voters (and more than is typical in contemporary Presidential elections) had decided long before election day whether or not they would support George W. Bush for re-election. Defense and security. In post-9/11 American politics, many voters see defending America from a terror threat as a key component of Presidential choice. Indeed, the Kerry campaign highlighted their candidate’s Vietnam war experience whereas the Bush campaign asserted the President’s anti-terrorism experience during his first term. The “values” vote. With the gay marriage amendment on the ballot in several key states, many political commentators suggested that “moral values” were key determinants of vote choice in the 2004 election.
Party and ideology. In 2004, most voters (and more than is typical in contemporary Presidential elections) had decided long before election day whether or not they would support George W. Bush for re-election.
Defense and security. In post-9/11 American politics, many voters see defending America from a terror threat as a key component of Presidential choice. Indeed, the Kerry campaign highlighted their candidate’s Vietnam war experience whereas the Bush campaign asserted the President’s anti-terrorism experience during his first term.
The “values” vote. With the gay marriage amendment on the ballot in several key states, many political commentators suggested that “moral values” were key determinants of vote choice in the 2004 election.
Issues such as gay marriage, abortion, and stem cell research brought moral and “values” issues to the forefront for many American voters.
Answer the following questions.
Question 4: Reflecting on Principle of Politics #1 (All political behavior has a purpose), how are we to reconcile the conflicting goals of “economic” voters and “values” voters? Some have argued that poor voters who voted for George W. Bush mistakenly voted against their “true interest.” Evaluate this claim. What is at stake in deeming something like income as a “true” interest as opposed to religious values?
Question 5: Reflecting on Principles of Politics #2 and #3 (All politics is collective action and Institutions routinely solve collective action problems), in what ways are religious affiliations more able to overcome the impediments to collective action than are class affiliations?
