In response to John’s column today, I suggest that people pick up a copy of The Macro Polity, by Stimson, Erikson and MacKuen. (I am currently taking Jim Stimson’s class on Macro Politics.) In it, they argue that the vast majority of the population will not affect policy or voting outcomes, anyway. A good percentage of them are static: they are partisans and nothing you can say or do will persuade them to stop voting straight-ticket. These people produce no movement in the electorate. Another chunk of the population fluctuates randomly. They produce movement, but eventually cancel each other out. The third segment of the population actually pay attention to the news, advertising, party platforms, but are not ideologues. These are the people who produce movement in the electorate and ultimately decide which policies are popular, who’s going to be the next president, and the make-up of the House and Senate.
It’s a very interesting read if you can get past the statistics. It says a lot about those who are actually influencing policies.
