Edited by Joel H. Silbey & Allan G. Bogue

• Frontmatter,
• Series Preface,
• Contents,
• Preface,
• Introduction,
• Introduction to Part One,
• 1. Partisan Realignment: A Systemic Perspective,
• 2. Toward a Theory of Stability and Change in American Voting Patterns: New York State, 1792-1970,
• 3. Third Party Alignments in a Two Party System: The Case of Minnesota,
• Introduction to Part Two,
• 4. The Maryland Electorate and the Concept of a Party System in the Early National Period,
• 5. Party, Competition, and Mass Participation: The Case of the Democratizing Party System, 1824-1852,
• 6. The Effect of the Southern System of Election Laws on Voting Participation: A Reply to V. O. Key, Jr,
• Introduction to Part Three,
• 7. The Electoral Foundations of the Political Machine: New York City, 1884-1897,
• 8. In Search of Wisconsin Progressivism, 1904-1952: A Test of the Rogin Scenario,
• 9. Retrieval of Individual Data from Aggregate Units of Analysis: A Case Study Using Twentieth-Century Urban Voting Data,
• Introduction to Part Four,
• 10. The Impact of Electoral Behavior on Public Policy: The Urban Dimension, 1900,
• List of Participants in the Conference on Electoral Behavior at Cornell University, June 1973,
• The Contributors,
• Index,

Concentrating on the American historical experience, the contributors to this volume apply quantitative techniques to the study of popular voting behavior. Their essays address problems of improving conceptualization and classifications of voting patterns, accounting for electoral outcomes, examining the nature and impact of constraints on participation, and considering the relationship of electoral behavior to subsequent public policy.
The writers draw upon various kind of data: time series of election returns, census enumerations that provide the social and economic characteristics of voting populations, and individual poll books and other lists that indicate whom the individual voters actually supported. Appropriate statistical techniques serve to order the data and aid in evaluating relationships among them. The contributions cover electoral behavior throughout most of American history, as reflected by collections in official and private archives.
Originally published in 1978.
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