ABSTRACT
This chapter considers voters as more than calculating, economic maximizers. It provides an examination of how the candidates, media and voters all contribute to constructing the meaning of campaigns and elections, and in the process reveal a great deal about American self images. Macroeconomic models of election outcomes convey an image of voters as economic maximizers, rationally reacting to changing macroeconomic trends. In the so-called postmodern, electronic age of politics, campaign managers and spin masters have developed the art of news coverage manipulation. The interaction between political leaders or candidates and the media has become akin to a giant chess game in which each side vies for control. The process of voter decision making generally involves numerous cognitive shortcuts that give more emphasis to candidate character, assessments of past performance, and perceived connections between candidates and particular groups or interests than to a detailed understanding of policy platforms.
