ABSTRACT
There have been many interpretations of the part played by elections in popular government. Elections have been viewed as a legitimating institution, functioning to give elected leaders the wherewithal to govern. Alternatively, they have been construed as a republican institution, functioning as a mechanism for choosing meritorious individuals in whom to entrust governmental power. Our concern is with the election as a democratic institution, particularly with the way in which American presidential elections serve as an agency by which an incumbent president is held accountable to the public. That is, our concern is to understand whether and how presidential elections give voters a meaningful opportunity to render the president responsive to their wishes and to make judgments about his conduct in office.
