Gregory B. Markus

Integrating Community Service and Classroom Instruction Enhances Learning: Results From an Experiment

To help inform discussion of the educational value of community service, we report results of an experiment in integrating service-learning into a large undergraduate political science course. Students in service-learning sections of the course were significantly more likely than those in the traditional discussion sections to report that they had performed up to their potential in the course, had learned to apply principles from the course to new situations, and had developed a greater awareness of societal problems. Classroom learning and course grades also increased significantly as a result of students’ participation in course-relevant community service. Finally, pre- and postsurvey data revealed significant effects of participation in community service upon students’ personal values and orientations. The experiential learning acquired through service appears to compensate for some pedagogical weaknesses of classroom instruction.

A Dynamic Simultaneous Equation Model of Electoral Choice

This article develops a simultaneous equation model of the voting decision in a form thought to mirror the main lines of cognitive decision-making processes of individual voters. The model goes beyond earlier efforts in two respects. First, it explicitly represents the causal interdependence of voter assessments in the election situation, permitting such estimations as the degree to which correlations between voter issue positions and issue positions ascribed to preferred candidates arise because of projection onto the candidate or persuasion by the candidate. Secondly, the model is truly dynamic, in the sense that it is dependent on longitudinal data for its proper estimation. The utility of the model is certified by the goodness of fit achieved when applied to 1972–76 panel data for a sample of the national electorate.

Plus ça change…: The New CPS Election Study Panel *

Between 1956 and 1960, the first long-term panel study of the American electorate was carried out at the University of Michigan. Among other findings from this original panel were sharp contrasts between the high individual-level stability of party identification and more labile individual preferences on major political issues of the day. Since 1960, several changes in the nature of the American electoral response have caught the attention of scholars, including an erosion of party loyalties on one hand and an increasing crystallization of issue attitudes on the other. Completion of a new panel segment, 1972–76, makes it possible to review the original 1956–60 findings in the light of these intervening changes. We discovered that the contrasts in individual-level continuity of party and issue positions remain nearly identical to those estimated for 1956–60. The theoretical significance of these counter-intuitive results is discussed.

Partisan Orientations over the Long Haul: Results from the Three-Wave Political Socialization Panel Study

The present study examines the dynamics of partisanship and voting behavior by utilizing national survey panel data gathered in 1965, 1973, and 1982 from two strategically situated generations—members of the high school senior class of 1965 and their parents. At the aggregate level, generational effects appeared in the persistently weaker partisan attachments of the younger generation. At the individual level, strong effects based on experience and habituation appeared in the remarkable gains occurring in the stability of partisan and other orientations among the young as they aged from their mid-20s to their mid-30s. Dynamic modeling of the relationship between partisanship and voting choice demonstrated that the younger voters had stabilized at an overall weaker level of partisanship, leading to more volatile voting behavior which, in turn, failed to provide the consistent reinforcement needed to intensify preexisting partisan leanings.

Political Attitudes during an Election Year: A Report on the 1980 NES Panel Study

This article is based on data from the 1980 National Election Study surveys. It reports findings concerning the rates at which voters become familiar with presidential candidates and their policy positions, trends in public opinion during the 1980 presidential campaign, and the dynamics of individual attitudes that underlie those trends. The impact of political attitudes on the individual vote decision is assessed within the context of a simultaneous equation model. In addition, the net effects of attitudinal distributions on the election outcome are estimated. The analysis yields support for the retrospective voting model and provides no evidence for the contention that Reagans victory was the result of his policy or ideological positions.

The Impact of Personal and National Economic Conditions on Presidential Voting, 1956-1988

This report updates an earlier study that examined the effects of changes in both personal and national economic conditions on individual vote decisions and, ultimately, on election outcomes themselves. Adding data for 1988 to the 1956-84 series (and correcting some errors in one variable) reinforces the quantitative and qualitative results of the previous analysis. The findings suggest that prevailing macrolevel conditions strongly advantaged any Republican candidate over any Democratic opponent in 1988, quite apart from any effects of the campaign itself.

The Political Environment and the Dynamics of Public Attitudes: A Panel Study

At the micro-level, political socialization research has emphasized the persistence of political orientations learned prior to adulthood. This emphasis has led to an implicitly conservative bias in macro-level theory-a preoccupation with the continuity of prevailing political values across generations. Results are presented here which address these two issues. These results are based on a two-wave panel study of young adults and their parents for the period 1965-1973. A high degree of persistence in partisan attachments and fairly stable political trust orientations are found for both cohorts. It is also shown, however, that reactions to the Vietnam War and race issues systematically affected political outlooks. Consistent with classical theories of generational succession, the potential impact of major issues upon political orientations appears greatest for young adults. Nevertheless, the evidence indicates that a capacity for life-long political learning exists, and historical occurrences may influence basic political attitudes throughout the life cycle.

Political Involvement in the Later Years: A Longitudinal Survey

Three main perspectives have been developed about the political involvement of aging citizens. Disengagement theory suggests declining participation; selective withdrawal points toward ageappropriate emphases, including augmentation; and cohort composition theory posits lower participation among the old as a consequence of their having fewer political resources. These perspectives were explored using a three-wave, 17-year panel study of American adults who aged, on average, from 53 to 70 during the study period. With cohort deprivation ruled out by the panel design and period effects controlled for statistically, effects of aging on participation remained. Although the more passive forms of political involvement remained rather steady, participation in the more demanding modes declined following the transition to old age. Those declines were partly offset by increased involvement of the elderly in age-appropriate activities that can have direct political consequences.

The Effect of Military Service on Political Attitudes: A Panel Study *

Institutional experiences at the young adult stage may act to alter or reinforce pre-existing political attitudes. This paper focuses on military service during the Vietnam War as one such institutional experience. Data are drawn from a two-wave, 1965-1973 national panel study of 674 males. Approximately half of the panel saw active duty. Comparisons are made between civilian and military respondents and, among military respondents, according to the duration, recency, intensity, affective qualities, and institutional salience of the military experience. Bivariate and regression techniques are used in the analyses. Veterans are somewhat less cynical and have broader attention frames than civilians. Civic tolerance and feelings toward minority groups are also affected by aspects of military service. War-related opinions vary between civilians and veterans and across categories of veterans. These effects remain when other relevant factors, including prior attitudes, are taken into account. The results underscore the potential significance of adult experiences in the socialization process.

Dynamic Modeling of Cohort Change: The Case of Political Partisanship

This article describes an alternative to typical cohort analysis procedures for modeling developmental processes using cohort data. The alternative strategy, a dynamic modeling approach, is illustrated by an analysis of trends in the strength of partisan identification in the United States 1952–1978. The proposed model accounts for observed Variation in partisan strength by age and cohort without any need to include those variables in the model itself.