Popular Efficacy in the Democratic Era: A Reexamination of Electoral Accountability in the United States, 1828–2000

Extract

Popular Efficacy in the Democratic Era: A Reexamination of Electoral Accountability in the United States, 1828–2000. By Peter F. Nardulli. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. 284p. $39.50.

Peter Nardulli's book blends syntheses of previous research and new empirical analysis to address the question of the capacity of American voters to hold political leaders accountable through elections—to achieve, that is, “popular efficacy.” The book begins by interpreting previous scholarly research as depicting voters as “manageable fools” because of their limited cognitive abilities for political evaluation (Chapter 2) and their habitual reliance on party identifications to dictate their vote choices (Chapter 4). Given this, why do politicians pay attention to public concerns? The original empirical analysis of the book answers this question. It shows how variations in and deviations from the normal vote are related to exogenous forces beyond the control of politicians, rather than habitual party loyalties or political strategies. The realization that their fortunes are tied to forces beyond their control, in turn, induces strategic politicians to be responsive to the public's core concerns.