ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why US citizens can vote for executives of one party and legislators of another without feeling any apparent conflict. It focuses on national elections, the evidence is limited to demonstrating two facts: how little voters conceive of representatives and senators in terms of issues and how these issues are related to the choice of a candidate for president. The chapter demonstrates the difference between legislative and executive elections, using the 1988 national election study survey. It offers a slightly different issue account of congressional and presidential contests as a part of the explanation for divided government. A major reason for divided government in Washington is the different issue agendas of presidential and congressional elections. Presidential candidates are often personifications of the policy disputes and symbols dividing them from their opponents. Congressional elections, in contrast, are almost never contests that require voters to choose a candidate based on his or her stance on important issues.
