| This study examines the effect of social and ideological factors on voting behavior in the United States for the 1984 Presidential election. Based upon past theoretical and empirical research on voting behavior, a multivariate model was developed which incorporated the influence of social and ideological variables on vote choice.;The results suggest that Blacks, Catholics, lower income, and less educated individuals tended to vote for the Democratic candidate. Protestants, and those with a higher income and education tended to vote for the Republican candidate. Generally those with a liberal orientation on ideological variables voted for the Democratic candidate, while those on the conservative side voted Republican. Analyses suggested that Blacks, women, the elderly, and Protestants participated in the election less than their counterparts.;The multivariate examination of the variables suggested similarities and differences when all social and ideological variables were incorporated in a single model of voting behavior. Party identification, issue policy, and Ideological sophistication contained a liberal-conservatism distinction in favor of one of the major party candidates. Ideological sophistication did not explain the vote choice for the Republican candidate, while this variable did influence the Democratic vote. This variable was a successful measure for distinguishing the voting behavior in terms of participation. The social variables included in the multivariate models were tied to voting behavior, directly and indirectly through ideological variables. Those with a higher level of education tended to vote for the Democratic candidate when other variables were controlled. Despite a significant correlation between race and vote choice the direct influence of this variable diminished when tested in a multivariate analysis.;Data provided by the National Election Survey/Center for Political Studies for the 1984 presidential election were used. Race, Sex, Age, Religion, Education, Income, and Occupation, were treated as independent variables. Party identification, issue policy,ideological self-identification, and ideological sophistication variables were selected as intervening variables. Research questions were examined using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics. |
