"Late deciders go for the challenger; turnout helps the Democrats; the gender gap results from a surge in Democratic preference among women--these and many other myths are standard fare among average citizens, political pundits, and even some academics. But are these conventional wisdoms--familiar to anyone who watches Sunday morning talk shows--really valid? Unconventional Wisdom offers a novel yet highly accessible synthesis of what we know about American voters and elections. It not only provides an integrated overview of the central themes in American politics--parties, polarization, turnout, partisan bias, campaign effects, swing voters, the gender gap, and the youth vote--it upends many of our fundamental preconceptions."
"Preface. 1. Facts and Myths about American Voters: An Introduction. 2. Americans Hate to Love Their Party, but They Do!. 3. Are American Voters Polarized?. 4. Who swings?. 5. Soccer Moms and Other Myths about the Gender Gap. 6. The Young and Not-So-Restless Voters. 7. The Partisan Bias of Turnout. 8. Campaign Effects in the Twenty-First Century. 9. Hard Facts and Conventional Wisdom as We Look to the Future. Appendices. Notes. Bibliography. Index."@en