The Elusive Mandate: Searching for Meaning in Presidential Elections || Radcliffe Institute

3,723 views · Published 19 December 2012 · 1:27:44 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: Harvard University · 2012 · Education

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Almost 50 years ago, eminent Harvard political scientist V. O. Key Jr. described in his book The Responsible Electorate an electorate "moved by concern about central and relevant questions of public policy, of governmental performance, and of executive personality." In this lecture, Larry M. Bartels assesses how well Key's optimistic portrait of the American electorate holds up in light of the subsequent half-century of electoral research. He concludes that presidential election outcomes are mostly determined by factors unrelated to central and relevant questions of public policy and governmental performance.

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