Guided by perspectives on the sociopolitical contexts of schooling, control of teachers' curriculum and instruction, and teaching of elections, we use findings from a national questionnaire to explore the contexts that shaped teachers' pedagogical decision making following the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Our findings reveal that classroom,…

At the start of their term, the Obama administration pledged to reform two failing policy systems in the United States: immigration and health care. The Latino populations' attitudes toward these two critical policy areas are particularly relevant due to the large foreign born population in the Latino community and the large number of Latinos who…

A study investigated whether reliance on television rather than on newspapers affected the way people made voting decisions. Specifically, it focused on whether television reliance was associated with greater candidate image evaluation and newspaper reliance with greater issue importance in the prediction of voter preferences. Telephone interviews…

In this study, two dimensions of political decisional agenda (the elements which relate most to voting decisions) were examined: the number of items on the agenda and the content of the agenda items. Data were gathered in a study of the 1974 congressional election in the five largest counties of Illinois' 24th Congressional District. A total of…

Finds little interaction between political information level, strength of party identification, and voting defection (not voting according to the "party line"). Concludes that the decision to defect from party affiliation is largely related to the specific issues in a political campaign. (RL)

Patterned after a 1976 study, a study examined voters' decision making during the 1980 campaign for the presidency of the United States. Data from a survey of 183 registered voters indicated that partisan voters were likely to be precommitted to a candidate choice and thus relatively immune to mass mediated campaign effects. However, those voters…

Identifies a substantial percentage of voters as "campaign deciders." Shows that these voters were low in partisanship during the 1976 presidential campaign, attended closely to the campaign, and voted according to campaign-specific perceptions. Contrasts these voters with "precampaign and last-minute deciders," who voted mainly on the basis of…

The present study focused on possible linkages between (1) the global characteristics of Kansas with individual characteristics, voting behavior, and attitudes of the Kansas state senators; (2) the personal and attitudinal characteristics of senators with various educational policy outcomes; and (3) the structural features of the senatorial…

Described are two longitudinal studies, one British, the other American, which examined the influences of varied socializing agents--e.g., family, school, peer groups--on voting behavior. The studies emphasized the hitherto unappreciated importance of the political, social, and economic climate of society and its changes on socialization. (CS)

The document examines the influence of political television commercials on voting behavior. In addition, the paper reports new data concerning the role of voter-oriented ads in socializing children to the political environment. Part I characterizes political ads and presents findings and conclusions of three voter surveys recently published in…