The Self-Organization of American Society in Presidential and Senatorial Elections

Abstract

The American electorate is commonly regarded as a hierarchic system of electoral groups that differ in their responses to the issues and tactics of electoral campaigns. Taken together, the groups comprise the entire electorate; they are normally represented in social or political organizations, but do not coincide with them. Cultural, social, economic, territorial, ethnic, and other factors divide voters into electoral groups. Each group, in turn, can be subdivided into smaller units, down to the indivisible, though variable element of the individual voter.