American National Government - POSC 111 Resource Guide

The sociological study of voting behavior, or electoral sociology, addresses the issue of voter choice, including the manner in which voters obtain, process, and act upon political information.

Although the systematic collection of information about society and social issues can be traced to eighteenth-century England, it was not until the early nineteenth century in the United States that public opinion became the subject of empirical study.

In democratic societies like the United States, the general public can take part in governmental action in two ways. Voters may vote directly for social action or they can vote for a representative who is trusted to implement social action in the best interest of the public. In the United States, citizens age 18 and over are eligible to vote, but not all Americans do vote. Some groups vote more often than other groups and voting behavior tends to follow set patterns.

To serve the research needs of social scientists, teachers, students, policy makers and journalists, the ANES produces high quality data from its own surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation

Gallup has studied human nature and behavior for more than 75 years. Gallup's reputation for delivering relevant, timely, and visionary research on what people around the world think and feel is the cornerstone of the organization.

Public Agenda, an innovative public opinion research and public engagement organization, works to strengthen our democracy's capacity to tackle tough public policy issues. Nonpartisan and nonprofit, Public Agenda was founded by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in 1975.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is one of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. The data held by the Roper Center range from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present.