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Inside the Mind of a Voter: A New Approach to Electoral Psychology

Online ISBN:
9780691202013
Print ISBN:
9780691182896
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Book

Inside the Mind of a Voter: A New Approach to Electoral Psychology

Michael Bruter,
Michael Bruter
London School of Economics
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Sarah Harrison
Sarah Harrison
London School of Economics
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Published online:
21 January 2021
Published in print:
26 May 2020
Online ISBN:
9780691202013
Print ISBN:
9780691182896
Publisher:
Princeton University Press

Abstract

Could understanding whether elections make people happy and bring them closure matter more than who they vote for? What if people did not vote for what they want but for what they believe is right based on roles they implicitly assume? Do elections make people cry? This book invites readers on a unique journey inside the mind of a voter using unprecedented data from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, South Africa, and Georgia throughout a period when the world evolved from the centrist dominance of Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela to the shock victories of Brexit and Donald Trump. The book explores three interrelated aspects of the heart and mind of voters: the psychological bases of their behaviour, how they experience elections and the emotions this entails, and how and when elections bring democratic resolution. The book examines unique concepts including electoral identity, atmosphere, ergonomics, and hostility. The book unveils insights into the conscious and subconscious sides of citizens' psychology throughout a unique decade for electoral democracy. It highlights how citizens' personality, memory, and identity affect their vote and experience of elections, when elections generate hope or hopelessness, and how subtle differences in electoral arrangements interact with voters' psychology to trigger different emotions. The book radically shifts electoral science, moving away from implicitly institution-centric visions of behaviour to understand elections from the point of view of voters.

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