Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

The study of voting and elections -- Is political participation declining or simply changing form? -- News vs. entertainment : how increasing media choice widens gaps in political knowledge and turnout / Markus Prior -- Voter turnout : eligibility has its benefits / Michael P. McDonald -- How important are informational differences among voters? -- The Oprah effect : how soft news helps inattentive citizens vote consistently / Matthew A. Baum and Angela S. Jamison -- Advantages and disadvantages of cognitive heuristics in political decision making / Richard R. Lau and David P. Redlawsk -- Political sophistication and policy reasoning : a reconsideration (updated) / Paul Goren -- Are economic factors weakening as vote determinants? -- The political conditioning of economic perceptions / Geoffrey Evans and Robert Andersen -- Purple America / Stephen Ansolabehere, Jonathan Rodden, and James M. Snyder, Jr. -- Is the American electorate polarized? -- Resurgent mass partisanship : the role of elite polarization (updated) / Marc J. Hetherington -- Is polarization a myth? / Alan I. Abramowitz and Kyle L. Saunders -- Polarization in the American public : misconceptions and misreadings / Morris P. Fiorina, Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope -- The 2008 election : polarization continues / Alan I. Abramowitz -- Where's the polarization? / Morris P. Fiorina and Samuel J. Adams -- What are the sources of the Republican realignment in the South? -- Economic development and a politics of class / Byron E. Shafer and Richard Johnston -- The reintroduction of the Elephas maximus to the southern United States : the rise of Republican state parties, 1960-2000 (updated) / M.V. Hood III, Quentin Kidd, and Irwin L. Morris -- Racial and moral issues in the evolution of the "Southern strategy" / D. Sunshine Hillygus and Todd G. Shields.

The readings in this volume are organized around five debates: Is political participation declining or simply changing form? How important are informational differences among voters? Are economic factors weakening as vote determinants? Is the American electorate polarized? What are the sources of the Republican realignment in the South? The editors supply section introductions that weave the readings together, establish context, and sort out the conflicting interpretations and diverging opinions that emerge across the chapters.