Position effects in multimember districts: The New Hampshire house of representatives, 1972-1994

Polity

Volumn 30, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 690-700

  Darcy, R ^a,b  

^a OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b KEELE UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0032105026     PISSN: 00323497     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3235261     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. R. Darcy and Richard C. Rohrs, A Guide to Quantitative History (New York: Praeger, 1995), 69-71.
2. Ian McAllister, Malcolm Mackerras, Alvaro Ascui, and Susan Mass, Australian Political Facts (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1990), 59.
3. Vincent Browne, ed., The Magill Book of Irish Politics (Dublin: Magill, 1981), 166.
4. See, for example, Henry Bain and Donald S. Hecock, Ballot Position and Voter's Choice (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1957); James W. Scon, "California Ballot Position Statutes: An Unconstitutional Advantantage to Incumbents," Southern California Law Review 45 (January 1972): 365-95.
5. See, for example, Henry Bain and Donald S. Hecock, Ballot Position and Voter's Choice (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1957); James W. Scon, "California Ballot Position Statutes: An Unconstitutional Advantantage to Incumbents," Southern California Law Review 45 (January 1972): 365-95.
6. See Jonathan Kelley and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues and the Vote in Australia and Britain: Alphabetic Voting, Sex and Title," Public Opinion Quarterly 48 (Summer 1984): 452-56; Eric A. Bakker and Arend Lijphart, "A Crucial Test of Alphabetic Voting: The Elections to the University of Leiden, 1973-78," British Journal of Political Science 10 (October 1980): 521-25; Christopher Robson and Brendan Walsh, "The Importance of Positional Voting Bias in the Irish General Election of 1973," Political Studies 22 (June 1974): 191-203; Arend Lijphart and Rafael Lopez Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections: Patterns of Voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986," Electoral Studies 7 (December 1988): 225-31. The belief in American position effects is despite strong evidence from American partisan elections. See R. Darcy, "Position Effects with Party Column Ballots," Western Political Quarterly 39 (December 1986): 648-62; R. Darcy and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Position Effects," Electoral Studies 9 (March 1990): 5-17.
7. See Jonathan Kelley and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues and the Vote in Australia and Britain: Alphabetic Voting, Sex and Title," Public Opinion Quarterly 48 (Summer 1984): 452-56; Eric A. Bakker and Arend Lijphart, "A Crucial Test of Alphabetic Voting: The Elections to the University of Leiden, 1973-78," British Journal of Political Science 10 (October 1980): 521-25; Christopher Robson and Brendan Walsh, "The Importance of Positional Voting Bias in the Irish General Election of 1973," Political Studies 22 (June 1974): 191-203; Arend Lijphart and Rafael Lopez Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections: Patterns of Voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986," Electoral Studies 7 (December 1988): 225-31. The belief in American position effects is despite strong evidence from American partisan elections. See R. Darcy, "Position Effects with Party Column Ballots," Western Political Quarterly 39 (December 1986): 648-62; R. Darcy and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Position Effects," Electoral Studies 9 (March 1990): 5-17.
8. See Jonathan Kelley and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues and the Vote in Australia and Britain: Alphabetic Voting, Sex and Title," Public Opinion Quarterly 48 (Summer 1984): 452-56; Eric A. Bakker and Arend Lijphart, "A Crucial Test of Alphabetic Voting: The Elections to the University of Leiden, 1973-78," British Journal of Political Science 10 (October 1980): 521-25; Christopher Robson and Brendan Walsh, "The Importance of Positional Voting Bias in the Irish General Election of 1973," Political Studies 22 (June 1974): 191-203; Arend Lijphart and Rafael Lopez Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections: Patterns of Voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986," Electoral Studies 7 (December 1988): 225-31. The belief in American position effects is despite strong evidence from American partisan elections. See R. Darcy, "Position Effects with Party Column Ballots," Western Political Quarterly 39 (December 1986): 648-62; R. Darcy and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Position Effects," Electoral Studies 9 (March 1990): 5-17.
9. See Jonathan Kelley and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues and the Vote in Australia and Britain: Alphabetic Voting, Sex and Title," Public Opinion Quarterly 48 (Summer 1984): 452-56; Eric A. Bakker and Arend Lijphart, "A Crucial Test of Alphabetic Voting: The Elections to the University of Leiden, 1973-78," British Journal of Political Science 10 (October 1980): 521-25; Christopher Robson and Brendan Walsh, "The Importance of Positional Voting Bias in the Irish General Election of 1973," Political Studies 22 (June 1974): 191-203; Arend Lijphart and Rafael Lopez Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections: Patterns of Voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986," Electoral Studies 7 (December 1988): 225-31. The belief in American position effects is despite strong evidence from American partisan elections. See R. Darcy, "Position Effects with Party Column Ballots," Western Political Quarterly 39 (December 1986): 648-62; R. Darcy and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Position Effects," Electoral Studies 9 (March 1990): 5-17.
10. See Jonathan Kelley and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues and the Vote in Australia and Britain: Alphabetic Voting, Sex and Title," Public Opinion Quarterly 48 (Summer 1984): 452-56; Eric A. Bakker and Arend Lijphart, "A Crucial Test of Alphabetic Voting: The Elections to the University of Leiden, 1973-78," British Journal of Political Science 10 (October 1980): 521-25; Christopher Robson and Brendan Walsh, "The Importance of Positional Voting Bias in the Irish General Election of 1973," Political Studies 22 (June 1974): 191-203; Arend Lijphart and Rafael Lopez Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections: Patterns of Voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986," Electoral Studies 7 (December 1988): 225-31. The belief in American position effects is despite strong evidence from American partisan elections. See R. Darcy, "Position Effects with Party Column Ballots," Western Political Quarterly 39 (December 1986): 648-62; R. Darcy and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Position Effects," Electoral Studies 9 (March 1990): 5-17.
11. See Jonathan Kelley and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues and the Vote in Australia and Britain: Alphabetic Voting, Sex and Title," Public Opinion Quarterly 48 (Summer 1984): 452-56; Eric A. Bakker and Arend Lijphart, "A Crucial Test of Alphabetic Voting: The Elections to the University of Leiden, 1973-78," British Journal of Political Science 10 (October 1980): 521-25; Christopher Robson and Brendan Walsh, "The Importance of Positional Voting Bias in the Irish General Election of 1973," Political Studies 22 (June 1974): 191-203; Arend Lijphart and Rafael Lopez Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections: Patterns of Voting for the Spanish Senate, 1982 and 1986," Electoral Studies 7 (December 1988): 225-31. The belief in American position effects is despite strong evidence from American partisan elections. See R. Darcy, "Position Effects with Party Column Ballots," Western Political Quarterly 39 (December 1986): 648-62; R. Darcy and Ian McAllister, "Ballot Position Effects," Electoral Studies 9 (March 1990): 5-17.
12. Lijphart and López Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections."
13. R. Darcy, Susan Welch and Janet Clark, Women, Elections and Representation, 2d ed. rev. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994), 167.
14. Susan MacManus and Charles S. Bullock III, "Women and Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Mayoral and Council Positions," Municipal Yearbook 1993 (Washington, DC: The International City/County Management Association, 1993).
15. As part of another project I collected ballots used in the November, 1992, United States election in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These show multimember elections widely used for a number of elective offices.
16. By the mid-1960s, however, multimember districts had become identified with attempts to dilute minority representation and their use was severely reduced through court order or legislative action See Bernard Grofman, Lisa Handley, and Richard G. Niemi, Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). A few observers have argued that certain problems of minority representation could in fact be solved by use of multimember districts. See M. Margaret Conway, "Creative Multimember Redistricting and Representation of Women and Minorities in the Maryland Legislature," in United States Electoral Systems: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, ed. Wilma Rute and Joseph Zirnmerman (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992), 99-109; R. Darcy, Chartes Hadley and Jason Kirksey. "Election Systems and the Representation of Black Women in American State Legislatures," Women & Politics 13 (1993): 73-89.
17. By the mid-1960s, however, multimember districts had become identified with attempts to dilute minority representation and their use was severely reduced through court order or legislative action See Bernard Grofman, Lisa Handley, and Richard G. Niemi, Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). A few observers have argued that certain problems of minority representation could in fact be solved by use of multimember districts. See M. Margaret Conway, "Creative Multimember Redistricting and Representation of Women and Minorities in the Maryland Legislature," in United States Electoral Systems: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, ed. Wilma Rute and Joseph Zirnmerman (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992), 99-109; R. Darcy, Chartes Hadley and Jason Kirksey. "Election Systems and the Representation of Black Women in American State Legislatures," Women & Politics 13 (1993): 73-89.
18. By the mid-1960s, however, multimember districts had become identified with attempts to dilute minority representation and their use was severely reduced through court order or legislative action See Bernard Grofman, Lisa Handley, and Richard G. Niemi, Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). A few observers have argued that certain problems of minority representation could in fact be solved by use of multimember districts. See M. Margaret Conway, "Creative Multimember Redistricting and Representation of Women and Minorities in the Maryland Legislature," in United States Electoral Systems: Their Impact on Women and Minorities, ed. Wilma Rute and Joseph Zirnmerman (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992), 99-109; R. Darcy, Chartes Hadley and Jason Kirksey. "Election Systems and the Representation of Black Women in American State Legislatures," Women & Politics 13 (1993): 73-89.
19. Some Australian jurisdictions now rotate the names or group candidates by party or otherwise violate strict alphabetic order.
20. Malcolm Mackerras, "Preference Voting and the 'Donkey Vote,'" Politics 5 (1970): 69-76; Kelley and McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues"; R. Darcy and Malcolm Mackerras, "Rotation of Ballots: Minimizing the Number of Rotations," Electoral Studies 12 (March 1993): 77-82; R. Darcy and Michael Marsh, "Decision Heuristics: Ticket Splitting and the Irish Voter," Electoral Studies 13 (March 1994): 38-49.
21. Malcolm Mackerras, "Preference Voting and the 'Donkey Vote,'" Politics 5 (1970): 69-76; Kelley and McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues"; R. Darcy and Malcolm Mackerras, "Rotation of Ballots: Minimizing the Number of Rotations," Electoral Studies 12 (March 1993): 77-82; R. Darcy and Michael Marsh, "Decision Heuristics: Ticket Splitting and the Irish Voter," Electoral Studies 13 (March 1994): 38-49.
22. Malcolm Mackerras, "Preference Voting and the 'Donkey Vote,'" Politics 5 (1970): 69-76; Kelley and McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues"; R. Darcy and Malcolm Mackerras, "Rotation of Ballots: Minimizing the Number of Rotations," Electoral Studies 12 (March 1993): 77-82; R. Darcy and Michael Marsh, "Decision Heuristics: Ticket Splitting and the Irish Voter," Electoral Studies 13 (March 1994): 38-49.
23. Malcolm Mackerras, "Preference Voting and the 'Donkey Vote,'" Politics 5 (1970): 69-76; Kelley and McAllister, "Ballot Paper Cues"; R. Darcy and Malcolm Mackerras, "Rotation of Ballots: Minimizing the Number of Rotations," Electoral Studies 12 (March 1993): 77-82; R. Darcy and Michael Marsh, "Decision Heuristics: Ticket Splitting and the Irish Voter," Electoral Studies 13 (March 1994): 38-49.
24. See Thomas T. Makie and Richard Rose, The International Almanac of Electoral History, fully revised 3d ed. (Washington, DC: 1991).
25. Michael Gallagher and Michael Marsh, eds., Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective: The Secret Garden of Politics (London: Sage, 1988), 191.
26. Lijphart and López Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections."
27. For discussions of popular executions of "random" behavior see Hans Reichenbach, The Theory of Probability: An Inquiry into the Logical and Mathematical Foundations of the Calculus of Probability (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949); Alphonse Chapanis, "Random-number Guessing Behavior," The American Psychologist 8 (August 1953): 332; G. S. Tune, "Response Preferences: A Review of Some Relevant Literature," Psychological Bulletin 61 (1964): 286-302; W. A. Wagenaar, "Subjective Randomness and the Capacity to Generate Information," Acta Psychologica 33 (1970): 233-42; Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky, eds., Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
28. For discussions of popular executions of "random" behavior see Hans Reichenbach, The Theory of Probability: An Inquiry into the Logical and Mathematical Foundations of the Calculus of Probability (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949); Alphonse Chapanis, "Random-number Guessing Behavior," The American Psychologist 8 (August 1953): 332; G. S. Tune, "Response Preferences: A Review of Some Relevant Literature," Psychological Bulletin 61 (1964): 286-302; W. A. Wagenaar, "Subjective Randomness and the Capacity to Generate Information," Acta Psychologica 33 (1970): 233-42; Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky, eds., Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
29. For discussions of popular executions of "random" behavior see Hans Reichenbach, The Theory of Probability: An Inquiry into the Logical and Mathematical Foundations of the Calculus of Probability (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949); Alphonse Chapanis, "Random-number Guessing Behavior," The American Psychologist 8 (August 1953): 332; G. S. Tune, "Response Preferences: A Review of Some Relevant Literature," Psychological Bulletin 61 (1964): 286-302; W. A. Wagenaar, "Subjective Randomness and the Capacity to Generate Information," Acta Psychologica 33 (1970): 233-42; Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky, eds., Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
30. For discussions of popular executions of "random" behavior see Hans Reichenbach, The Theory of Probability: An Inquiry into the Logical and Mathematical Foundations of the Calculus of Probability (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949); Alphonse Chapanis, "Random-number Guessing Behavior," The American Psychologist 8 (August 1953): 332; G. S. Tune, "Response Preferences: A Review of Some Relevant Literature," Psychological Bulletin 61 (1964): 286-302; W. A. Wagenaar, "Subjective Randomness and the Capacity to Generate Information," Acta Psychologica 33 (1970): 233-42; Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky, eds., Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
31. For discussions of popular executions of "random" behavior see Hans Reichenbach, The Theory of Probability: An Inquiry into the Logical and Mathematical Foundations of the Calculus of Probability (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949); Alphonse Chapanis, "Random-number Guessing Behavior," The American Psychologist 8 (August 1953): 332; G. S. Tune, "Response Preferences: A Review of Some Relevant Literature," Psychological Bulletin 61 (1964): 286-302; W. A. Wagenaar, "Subjective Randomness and the Capacity to Generate Information," Acta Psychologica 33 (1970): 233-42; Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic, and Amos Tversky, eds., Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
32. See R. Darcy and Anne Schneider, "Confusing Ballots, Roll-Off, and the Black Vote," Western Political Quarterly 42 (September 1989): 347-64.
33. Edward M. Sait, American Parties and Elections, rev. ed. (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1939), 680-709.
34. The straight party provision is not shown here. A candidate vote overrides the straight party vote. This creates a problem for voters who use the straight party provision but select one candidate from another party. That candidate selection invalidates all the straight party selections for that particular race.
35. See Lijphart and López Pintor, "Alphabetic Bias in Partisan Elections."