Waves of Discontent
After a period of relative calm in congressional elections prior to 2006, America has experienced a series of highly competitive, volatile national elections. Since then, at least one of the US House, US Senate, and presidency has flipped party control—often with a large House or Senate seat swing—w...
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| 格式: | Online |
| 語言: | 英语 |
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University of Michigan Press
2025
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| 在線閱讀: | ONIX_20250912T141556_9780472905386_3 |
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| _version_ | 1869516487378599936 |
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| author | Smith, Jacob F. H. |
| author_browse | Smith, Jacob F. H. |
| author_facet | Smith, Jacob F. H. |
| author_sort | Smith, Jacob F. H. |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | After a period of relative calm in congressional elections prior to 2006, America has experienced a series of highly competitive, volatile national elections. Since then, at least one of the US House, US Senate, and presidency has flipped party control—often with a large House or Senate seat swing—with the exception of the 2012 election. In Waves of Discontent, Jacob F. H. Smith argues that a pervasive feeling of displeasure in the American public has caused this increase in electoral volatility. Conducting statistical analyses of a wide array of surveys, Smith found that these feelings of displeasure translate to lower turnout among voters from the president’s party and a higher percentage of independents voting for the other party. Subsequently, he conducted a content analysis of New York Times articles to look at the connection between unrest in American society and seat swings in congressional elections, even before the existence of polling. Examining the consequences of volatility in congressional elections reveals that political amateurs are more likely to win in wave years than in normal years. Based on this data, Smith presents a new theory about the policy process—the policy doom loop—in which frustration among voters at both the inability of Congress to pass policy and anger at policies that actually do pass results in even more churn in congressional elections. Waves of Discontent offers some suggestions to promote constructive policymaking efforts in Washington to reduce frustration in the electorate. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-166507 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | University of Michigan Press |
| publisherStr | University of Michigan Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1665072025-09-13T05:00:50Z Waves of Discontent Smith, Jacob F. H. congressional elections, wave elections, content analysis, public opinion, Congress, public policy, policy process, history and politics, political unrest, political discontent, political amateurs, political dysfunction, Republican, Democrat, two-party, undecided voters, party control, independent voters, political dissatisfaction, statistical analysis, swing seats, polling thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHF Elections and referenda / suffrage After a period of relative calm in congressional elections prior to 2006, America has experienced a series of highly competitive, volatile national elections. Since then, at least one of the US House, US Senate, and presidency has flipped party control—often with a large House or Senate seat swing—with the exception of the 2012 election. In Waves of Discontent, Jacob F. H. Smith argues that a pervasive feeling of displeasure in the American public has caused this increase in electoral volatility. Conducting statistical analyses of a wide array of surveys, Smith found that these feelings of displeasure translate to lower turnout among voters from the president’s party and a higher percentage of independents voting for the other party. Subsequently, he conducted a content analysis of New York Times articles to look at the connection between unrest in American society and seat swings in congressional elections, even before the existence of polling. Examining the consequences of volatility in congressional elections reveals that political amateurs are more likely to win in wave years than in normal years. Based on this data, Smith presents a new theory about the policy process—the policy doom loop—in which frustration among voters at both the inability of Congress to pass policy and anger at policies that actually do pass results in even more churn in congressional elections. Waves of Discontent offers some suggestions to promote constructive policymaking efforts in Washington to reduce frustration in the electorate. 2025-09-13T05:00:49Z 2025-09-13T05:00:49Z 2025-09-12T12:23:03Z 2025 book ONIX_20250912T141556_9780472905386_3 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/105967 9780472905386 9780472077809 9780472057801 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/166507 eng Legislative Politics And Policy Making open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/105967/1/9780472905386.pdf University of Michigan Press 10.3998/mpub.12824932 10.3998/mpub.12824932 b7359529-e5f7-4510-a59f-d7dafa1d4d17 9780472905386 9780472077809 9780472057801 244 open access |
| spellingShingle | congressional elections, wave elections, content analysis, public opinion, Congress, public policy, policy process, history and politics, political unrest, political discontent, political amateurs, political dysfunction, Republican, Democrat, two-party, undecided voters, party control, independent voters, political dissatisfaction, statistical analysis, swing seats, polling thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHF Elections and referenda / suffrage Smith, Jacob F. H. Waves of Discontent |
| title | Waves of Discontent |
| title_full | Waves of Discontent |
| title_fullStr | Waves of Discontent |
| title_full_unstemmed | Waves of Discontent |
| title_short | Waves of Discontent |
| title_sort | waves of discontent |
| topic | congressional elections, wave elections, content analysis, public opinion, Congress, public policy, policy process, history and politics, political unrest, political discontent, political amateurs, political dysfunction, Republican, Democrat, two-party, undecided voters, party control, independent voters, political dissatisfaction, statistical analysis, swing seats, polling thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHF Elections and referenda / suffrage |
| topic_facet | congressional elections, wave elections, content analysis, public opinion, Congress, public policy, policy process, history and politics, political unrest, political discontent, political amateurs, political dysfunction, Republican, Democrat, two-party, undecided voters, party control, independent voters, political dissatisfaction, statistical analysis, swing seats, polling thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPQ Central / national / federal government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes::JPHF Elections and referenda / suffrage |
| url | ONIX_20250912T141556_9780472905386_3 |
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