The psychology of voting action: on the psychological origins of electoral research, 1939-1964

This article examines the development of psychologically oriented voting behavior research between 1939-1964. It intends to show the psychological basis of the Columbia and Michigan approaches and its implications for the analysis of electoral behavior. It is argued that, in spite of the large differences commonly perceived between these two approaches, there is much similarity between them, both with regard to their psychological roots as to their principal conclusions.