Who Votes?

by Raymond E. Wolfinger

Book Overview

Represents a major contribution to the literature dealing with voting behavior in the United States...Combines the strong analytical skills of two scholars with a unique and revealing data set. The result is a sophisticated, highly quantitative, but most readable assessment of the sociological, motivational, and political factors that account for variation in electoral participation.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300025416
• ISBN13: 9780300025415
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The definitive work on the determinants of voting in America

Although it is now almost 20 years old, "Who Votes" is still the definitive book on voting in America. Better than anyone Wolfinger and Rosenstone tease out the various factors that make people more or less likely to vote. Along the way they dispose of some myths (blacks don't vote as much as whites, relaxed registration laws benefit Democrats), and give evidence for the validity of others (educated people vote more). Although an academic work, their writing style is clear and readable. Read in conjunction with Anthony Downs' "An Economic Theory of Democracy" (which is much less readable), the two books provide much of what needs to be known about voting in America.