Ideological Consistency and Issue Voting in 1980

Interview data were collected in Oct 1980 from 502 adults living in three NJ counties within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, dealing with their opinions about the issues & candidates in the 1980 Presidential election. Voters were found to have a reasonably coherent & moderately consisten...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of political & military sociology 1981-10, Vol.9 (2), p.197-214
Main Author: Goertzel, Ted G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Candidate/Candidates
Consistency
Ideology/Ideologies/Ideological
Issue/Issues
New Jersey
Philadelphia, Pa
Voting/Voter/Voters
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Summary:Interview data were collected in Oct 1980 from 502 adults living in three NJ counties within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, dealing with their opinions about the issues & candidates in the 1980 Presidential election. Voters were found to have a reasonably coherent & moderately consistent attitude structure, which related significantly to candidate preferences. Rs were most conservative on issues related to equality for minority groups, & most liberal on moral or sexual issues. They were ambivalent on government intervention in the economy largely because they seemed to doubt its effectiveness. They favored increased military preparedness & arms control negotiations, & opposed intervention in the Middle East. While a single principal factor of liberalism-conservatism explained 42% of the variance common to the attitude items, a more complex factor structure -- including government interventionism, SE egalitarianism, sexual egalitarianism, & militarism -- provided a more detailed description of the attitude structure. Economic class, race, sex, & age were related to this attitude structure in differing & complex ways. 7 Tables. Modified HA.
ISSN:0047-2697