Negative Voter Support in Presidential Elections

Abstract

r _ RADITIONAL studies of behavior have focused, with few exceptions, on voting for the candidate who is more or better liked than the other candidate(s). While in all presidential elections a majority of citizens express positive support for their preferred candidate, it is clear that substantial numbers of voters act on the basis of support. If we assume a two-candidate contest, then negative support for candidate A is defined as that state where a citizen is neutral toward A, but dislikes the opposing candidate, B. A negative voter, therefore, does not like his/her preferred candidate. Rather, the negative voter is motivated by antipathy toward the opposition; he or she votes against, not for. Positive support for A involves liking A, and either disliking or being neutral toward B. Citizens who like both candidates, dislike both candidates, or are neutral toward both candidates are said to be indifferent. These citizens may have support for a candidate, but their support is neither positive nor negative in the sense the terms are used here. The purpose of this paper is to explore negative voter support in the context of the past eight presidential elections in the United States. Our study of this phenomenon is organized around the following four questions: