No Evidence on Directional vs. Proximity

Political Analysis, Vol. 8, No. 1, Pp. 21-33, August, 1999

13 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2008

See all articles by Jeffrey B. Lewis

Jeffrey B. Lewis

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Gary King

Harvard University

Abstract

The directional and proximity models offer dramatically different theories for how voters make decisions and fundamentally divergent views of the supposed microfoundations on which vast bodies of literature in theoretical rational choice and empirical political behavior have been built. We demonstrate here that the empirical tests in the large and growing body of literature on this subject amount to theoretical debates about which statistical assumption is right. The key statistical assumptions have not been empirically tested and, indeed, turn out to be effectively untestable with exiting methods and data. Unfortunately, these assumptions are also crucial since changing them leads to different conclusions about voter processes.

Suggested Citation

Lewis, Jeffrey B. and King, Gary, No Evidence on Directional vs. Proximity. Political Analysis, Vol. 8, No. 1, Pp. 21-33, August, 1999 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1083741

Jeffrey B. Lewis (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) ( email )

405 Hilgard Avenue
Box 951361
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1361
United States

Gary King

Harvard University ( email )

1737 Cambridge St.
Institute for Quantitative Social Science
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-500-7570 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://gking.harvard.edu

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