Book Reviews

Three Texts on Parties, Elections, and Public Opinion

L. Sandy Maisel, editor. The Parties Respond: Changes in American Parties and Campaigns. Transforming American Politics Series; second edition; third edition due 1997: $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-8133-9961-0; $25.00 (paper), ISBN 0-8133-9960-2. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1994. 420 pp. Bibliography and index. $24.50 (paper), ISBN 0-8133-1723-1.

Jerry L. Yeric and John R. Todd. Public Opinion: The Visible Politics. Third edition. Itasca, Ill.: F. E. Peacock Publishers, 1996. xix + 280 pp. Bibliography and index. $28.00 (paper), ISBN 0-87581-396-8.

Paul R. Abramson, John H. Aldrich, and David W. Rohde. Change and Continuity in the 1992 Elections. Revised edition. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1995. xxii + 436 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, and index. $24.95 (paper), ISBN 0-87187-839-9.

Reviewed for H-Teachpol by John W. Williams , Principia College, Elsah, Ill.

Published by H-Teachpol (August, 1997)

I recently had a politically active young man come to my office to drop his political science major. He explained that he didn't want to deal with theory. He was interested only in facts. Undergraduates fight theory and methodology, two foundations essential to political science. This anecdote capsulizes the strengths and weaknesses of the three textbooks under review.

I use these three textbooks in a survey course on parties, elections, and public opinion. As a small liberal arts college with limited staff and curricular resources, we squeeze these topics into a single-term course, structured as three units of approximately equal length. I have the luxury of teaching this course in the fall term of even years. Yes, it is grand to teach courses like this during the general election season. I structure the course to take full advantage of opportunities. We have candidates on campus, often in class. We have optional, extra-credit field trips to rallies, fund-raisers, and debates. On election day the students conduct surveys at election polls.

Public opinion is the first of the three units, anchored in _Public Opinion: The Visible Politics_, by Jerry L. Yeric and John R. Todd. The second unit is on elections, with _Change and Continuity in the 1992 Elections_, by Paul R. Abramson, John H. Aldrich and David W. Rohde. The final unit is on political parties, with _The Parties Respond: Changes in American Parties and Campaigns_, edited by L. Sandy Maisel. The chronology was established by the timing of elections, usually in the middle of a semester or at the end of a quarter. The unit on public opinion helps the students grapple with the issue of how we know what we know about political behavior. The election unit culminates as the general election climaxes. The political parties unit, which would have been excellent during the conventions (which occur before the fall term starts), provides a summary and review. As a hidden benefit, the textbooks are read in their order of difficulty, so that I can work with students on their reading skills and use of the texts.

As a practical matter, readings are assigned on a regular basis, with in-class review and discussion. There is a unit test, primarily on the textual material. For each unit, students locate and abstract an article from a professional journal on a relevant topic. As their term research paper, students combine what they learn from the first two units with outside research to predict the outcome of general elections in their home states. The analytical papers are due the day before the general election. Those who predict wrong must write a supplemental paper explaining why they erred. The papers are not evaluated on correctness of prediction, but on quality of writing, research, analysis, and use of concepts.

Students fight generalization, such as the assertions that parents are the strongest source of political influence or that college students tend to hold certain opinions on specific issues. Individual students object strenuously to these descriptions. This provides a forum for exploration of the concepts of generalization and description as aggregate not individual. This forum becomes a launching pad for the introduction of theory and theoretical thinking. These three textbooks, while on different levels, are based on theory and methodology, though _Change and Continuity_ is the most descriptive.

There are three approaches to responding to this struggle against social science. The first approach is to ignore the struggle and plunge ahead. Maisel's collection of essays plunges ahead without providing assistance to the newcomer. It is the text that is the thickest in terms of print, writing style, and concepts. It is the text that requires the most assistance from the instructor. On the other hand, it is the text that the best students prefer. It is not superficial nor does it talk down to the students. It is useful as a readings volume for a course on political parties.

Structurally, the collection follows the pattern of party-as-organization, party-in-the-electorate, and party-in-government. There are sixteen essays in six sections: history (an essay by Joel Sibley), three essays on party organization (both state and national organization), two essays on party identification and the electorate, a separate section on the electoral process (with five essays), three essays on party-in-government, and a conclusion with two essays. Even though Maisel's collection is a struggle for the weaker students, I appreciate the literature available, with well-known scholars such as Warren Miller, Morris Fiorina, Paul Herrnson, and John Bibby (plus many more).

I use this book last in the series for several reasons. First, the students and I have gotten a chance to develop a relationship within the course. Second, the better students are ready for the more scholarly approach of the essay, and I am ready to assist the weaker students. Third, there is repetitive material, particularly in the areas of party identification and electoral behavior. The material on party history, organization and behavior is new to the students.

The second approach is to deal with the struggle with social science intellectually, as if approaching research methods by learning how to hand calculate chi-squares. The Yeric and Todd textbook on public opinion is structured for this approach. The first four chapters--introduction to concept of public opinion, tools of polling, development of individual opinion, group opinion and difference--provide the tools and structure for the study of public opinion. Two middle chapters on the media's role and on issues of mass belief and uninformed voters provide a segue into a series of chapters on public opinion on six policy areas and on presidential performance. The text concludes with a discussion of issues involving the field, such as credibility of election polls and effects of exit polls. I have found that the two middle chapters are consistently the most difficult for students. They are the most theoretical chapters, with little opportunity to build ties to the students' own experience. The opening chapters, introducing both theory and method, are readily adaptable to exercises or lectures built on student experience. Likewise, the latter chapters on opinion on specific policies directly touch student experience. The students are eager to match or challenge the chapters.

Yeric and Todd is a literature-based text. The authors identify a few key studies (such as Jennings and Niemi's studies of the political character of children), reproduce findings from the studies, then base their discussions on the reported findings. One of the strengths of this approach is to teach students how to read and interpret tables and graphs. One of the weaknesses of this approach is that the instructor is dependent on the authors' selection of literature, and hence on their findings and presentation of data. This, of course, can be compensated with supplemental materials.

Yeric and Todd use technical language in an easy manner. The textbook can be used prior to a research methods or statistics course. For example, the text uses the terminology of correlation when discussing the relationship between the political identification of parents and children. The authors have included a boxed explanation of correlation coefficients within the chapter. Like the approach throughout the book, the explanation aims to be helpful for the instructor battling statistically anxious students. Instead of discussing calculations, the authors explain how to find correlation coefficient information useful.

Yeric and Todd are broad and not deep in their review. The text is useful as an introduction to public opinion, not as an anchor for a course in public opinion. This text is an excellent match for the course and the students.

The third approach to the struggle with social science is to deal with it experientially. As an example, every election season I have the candidates for local office come to class. The students quickly learn to ask theory-based questions of the candidates, such as why they are a Democrat or a Republican. The students, now engaged in rudimentary hypothesis-testing, expect the candidates to answer that they are Democrats (or Republicans) because their parents were. The candidates give this answer about 95% of the time. This accomplishes a number of course objectives. It legitimizes the textual material. It reveals the usefulness of theoretical material. And it provides a basis for deeper critical thinking. One recent candidate revealed that his parents were of the other party. The students, at first, looked at this as a fundamental challenge to theory. This provided an opportunity to talk about the concept of generalization. And, with subsequent research, we discovered that the candidate had defected from his parents' party as an electoral carpetbagger.

Like the public opinion textbook, _Change and Continuity_ is literature-based. However, the literature is supported with extensive documentation of the most recent elections. The _Change and Continuity_ series follows a format of approximately a dozen chapters in four or five sections. The first section, on the most recent presidential election contest, reviews the nomination process, the general election campaign and the election results. The second section examines voter behavior--who voted, social forces, candidates and issues, presidential performance, and retrospective voting and party identification. These middle chapters, especially on social forces and party identification, provide the link between the first course unit on public opinion and the last course unit on political parties. The third section of the book considers the concurrent congressional elections. The final section explores the impact of election, particularly on the viability of the two parties. Depending on the edition, the last section may also include a chapter on the off-year congressional elections.

One of the strengths is its currency and the "factness" of the text. Political junkies prefer this text over the others. One of the weaknesses is there is too much detail for the casual student, such as the student who uses the class for state teaching certification.

There are two good timings for this textbook. The first is immediately after the election most recently covered, while it is still fresh and supporters of winners are triumphant and supporters of losers are frustrated. CQ Press works hard to have updated editions on the street quickly. The second is during the subsequent election season when students can use the material to evaluate the current events. Without the anchor of an election, I find the students are rudderless in the material. Thus, this text is good for confronting the underlying issue of theory and methodology by tying the material to current events and student experience.

Yeric and Todd and _Change and Continuity_ are qualitative while Maisel's collection is much less so, reflecting the nature of the subject matter and the traditional approaches to their study. Maisel, on the other hand, offers the most extensive historical context, though _Change and Continuity_ does include some history of critical and realigning elections. In drawing the elections and parties material together, I review parallel histories of critical elections and party systems. With this, the class concludes with an analysis of what the most recent election means for the future of the American political system, especially the parties.

The publication dates are beguiling. I have followed these three books through their updating editions and am pleased with the constant improvements. Peacock, publisher of Yeric and Todd, sought specific feedback in preparing the third edition. My bookshelf reveals the regular development of _Change and Continuity_. My collection goes back to the election of 1980. After the 1994 interim election, CQ Press updated the 1992 version with an additional chapter. Maisel's collection included an essay on Clinton's 1992 election and Maisel's own essay on political parties at the end of the century. In all three instances, the publishers and authors/editors have a process in place to insure up-to-date editions.

The H-Teachpol book review editor is Patrick O'Neil.

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