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Interpreting the 1974 Congressional Election

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Eric M. Uslaner
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
M. Margaret Conway
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Gary C. Jacobson
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Samuel Kernell
Affiliation:
The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

Abstract

What factors best account for the 1974 congressional election results? Were the Democratic party gains in House seats due mainly to the behavior of “strategic politicians” who sought or accepted candidacies and raised effective campaign war chests? Or were the Democratic gains due more to the impact of Watergate and the economy on voters' choices? In this Controversy, Gary C. Jacobson and Samuel Kernell defend the “strategic politicians” thesis, while Eric Uslaner and Margaret Conway stand by their more conventional accounting of the 1974 election outcome.

Type
Controversy
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1986

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References

Brody, Richard A. 1977. Stability and Change in Party Identification. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
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Jacobson, Gary C. 1985b. Enough is Too Much: Money and Competition in House Elections, 1972–1984. Presented at the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Symposium on Elections in America, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
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