Abstract
Among the major theories about how institutions influence voting behavior, the theory of clarity of responsibility is a relative newcomer. It was developed by G. Bingham Powell and Guy D. Whitten in a 1993 paper published in the American Journal of Political Science as a possible solution to a puzzle in the economic voting literature. Although there are substantial disagreements about how the basic concepts in this theory should be measured, it has received robust support across empirical tests and has been extended in a variety of interesting ways. In this chapter, we begin with a discussion of the origins of this theory. We then discuss the influence that this theory has had on studies of economic voting and the range of ways in which it has been studied, challenged, and extended.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The SAGE Handbook of Electoral Behaviour |
| Editors | Kai Arzheimer, Jocelyn Evans, Michael S. Lewis-Beck |
| Place of Publication | London |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications |
| Chapter | 5 |
| Pages | 80-91 |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781473959255 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781473913158, 978-1-4739-1315-8 |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |