Pros and cons of partisan elections

journal article

American Journal of Political Science

Vol. 30, No. 1 (Feb., 1986)

, pp. 128-139 (12 pages)

Published By: Midwest Political Science Association

//doi.org/10.2307/2111297

//www.jstor.org/stable/2111297

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Abstract

Research in the early 1960s found that Republican candidates benefited from the presence of legally nonpartisan ballots in municipal elections. Using a nationwide sample of almost 1,000 city council members, this thesis is reexamined in the context of the urban environment of the 1980s. Probit analysis is used to test the effect of partisan ballots on the partisan identification of council members. The partisan biases of nonpartisanship remain under some circumstances, but the changing nature of urban politics and the growth of new political forces appear to have substantially mitigated these biases.

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The American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), published four times each year, is one of the most widely-read political science journals in the United States. AJPS is a general journal of political science open to all members of the profession and to all areas of the discipline of political science. JSTOR provides a digital archive of the print version of American Journal of Political Science. The electronic version of American Journal of Political Science is available at //www.blackwell-synergy.com/servlet/useragent?func=showIssues&code;=ajps. Authorized users may be able to access the full text articles at this site.

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The Midwest Political Science Association, founded in 1939, is a national organization of more than 2,800 political science professors, researchers, students, and public administrators from throughout the United States and over 50 foreign countries. The association is dedicated to the advancement of scholarly communication in all areas of political science. Each year the association sponsors a three-day conference of political scientists in Chicago for the purpose of presenting and discussing the latest research in political science. More than 2,000 individuals participate in this conference, which features 300 panels and programs on politics. The MPSA is headquartered at Indiana University. For further information, contact William D. Morgan, Executive Director, email: .

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journal article

The Journal of Politics

Vol. 50, No. 1 (Feb., 1988)

, pp. 169-179 (11 pages)

Published By: The University of Chicago Press

//doi.org/10.2307/2131046

//www.jstor.org/stable/2131046

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Abstract

How does partisan information affect individual voting behavior in nonpartisan elections? Using data from a 1982 California Poll survey on state supreme court confirmation elections we demonstrate that nonpartisan elections are easily turned into partisan contests in the minds of voters. Partisan information increases the probability of an individual holding an opinion on the elections, and results in votes which are based on the respondent's partisan identification and opinion of the governor who appointed the justice. The implications of these results for nonpartisan elections in general and merit retention contests in particular are also discussed.

Journal Information

Current issues are now on the Chicago Journals website. Read the latest issue. Established in 1939 and published for the Southern Political Science Association, The Journal of Politics is a leading general-interest journal of political science and the oldest regional political science journal in the United States. The scholarship published in The Journal of Politics is theoretically innovative and methodologically diverse, and comprises a blend of the various intellectual approaches that make up the discipline. The Journal of Politics features balanced treatments of research from scholars around the world, in all subfields of political science including American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and political methodology.

Publisher Information

Since its origins in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago, The University of Chicago Press has embraced as its mission the obligation to disseminate scholarship of the highest standard and to publish serious works that promote education, foster public understanding, and enrich cultural life. Today, the Journals Division publishes more than 70 journals and hardcover serials, in a wide range of academic disciplines, including the social sciences, the humanities, education, the biological and medical sciences, and the physical sciences.

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The Journal of Politics © 1988 The University of Chicago Press
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What is the role of a partisan?

What does it mean to be partisan or nonpartisan?