Issue Salience and Voting Behavior

AMERICANS HAVE LONG been accused of political ignorance. Nonetheless, most citizens have the ability to grasp what issues are important during an election and vote based on such issues. To a select few individuals, one particular issue will matter more than any other during [Page 337]an election. Many other Americans are largely concerned with current political problems, reform, and other salient issues of the day. However, some may disregard the notion that citizens base their voting decisions on issue positions presented by the candidates, and rather explain voting behavior as a product of party identification.

Understanding the relationship between issues that frame the current political environment and how voters make their decisions on Election Day is complex. On the one hand, voters have personal concerns that are important to them. An elderly individual is likely to be concerned with proposed Social Security reform and prescription drug costs, while a devoted Evangelical is likely to be concerned with social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. On the other hand, candidates have their own strengths and may want to control the issue agenda in a campaign.

In 1992, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton wanted voters to know what he thought the salient issue was in the campaign by coining the slogan, “It's the Economy, Stupid.” Ultimately, it is the voters' goal to find asymmetry between their salient issue positions and those of the candidates. Candidates for public office have to discuss salient issues; their opponents, voters, and the media make sure of that. But, voters' ability to comprehend issues is a different story. Some issues are simple for voters to understand and often symbolic in nature, such as gay marriage and school prayer. Other issues are more technical and require a greater understanding of policy, such as environmental regulation and economic expansion.

Academicians have failed to convincingly show that Americans are aware of many issues. A large portion of the American public cannot identify certain issue debates between political parties or their candidates' stance on such issues during an electoral season. As such, the best explanation for voting behavior is party identification. That is, citizens do not base their vote on the issues presented in the campaign, but by simply using their partisan identification. However, this is a somewhat crude assessment, and many exceptions can be found. For example, few would doubt that there are many voters in America who base their vote on one particular issue. With single-issue voters, their voting behavior is consistent over time. Each election cycle their vote will be predetermined based on one issue. Citizens with strong opinions about abortion are usually given as an example of single-issue voters, but other issues qualify, such as the environment or taxes.

In addition, it is relatively easy to identify which issues dominate an election simply by assessing candidate rhetoric, messages, and campaign advertisements. For instance, during the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore and George W. Bush addressed education reform, prescription drug costs, and Social Security at great length. Other issues were addressed, but these three were the most salient issues of the election. When asked, many voters from 2000 said education and healthcare costs were the most important issues to them. So, a link usually exists between the issues candidates pursue and the issues voters consider.

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