Pattie, C.J. and Johnston, R.J. (2014) The electors shall meet in their respective states: bias and the US Presidential Electoral College 1960-2012. Political Geography, 40. 35 - 45. ISSN 0962-6298
Abstract
American Presidential elections are indirect, reflecting popular support for the candidates through the institution of the Electoral College to choose the President. In common with other plurality-based electoral systems, the College tends to exaggerate the apparent mandate received by the winner of the popular vote but, on occasion, can deliver victory to the second-placed candidate. Despite a sizeable literature on its operation and vagaries, however, relatively little attention has been paid to the question of systematic bias in the College: does one party receive a consistent advantage over the other from the College's operation? The paper examines the evidence for such a bias in each Presidential election since 1960. Although biases have occurred and in some cases were substantial, neither major party is a consistent beneficiary; the prime source of bias is to be found in the relative effectiveness of parties' own vote-winning strategies.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Political Geography. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Electoral geography; Electoral College; Presidential elections; bias |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 May 2014 09:17 |
Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2017 10:19 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.02.006 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.02.006 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:78638 |