Table Of ContentVital Statistics
on American Politics
Vital Statistics
on American Politics
2013–2014
Harold W. Stanley
Southern Methodist University
Richard G. Niemi
University of Rochester
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Contents
Tables and Figures vii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xix
Accuracy of Published Data • Obtaining Additional Material
1 Elections and Political Parties 1
Turnout • Political Parties • Election Results (President,
Congress, and State) • Minority Elected Officials • Presidential
Nominations • Districting • Voting Rights • Term
Limits • Voting Equipment
2 Campaign Finance and Political Action Committees 81
Contribution Limits • Presidential Campaign Financing • Party
Expenditures • Political Action Committees (PACs)
3 Public Opinion and Voting 103
Partisanship • Ideology • Voting by Groups • Presidential and
Congressional Approval • Confidence in Government and the
Economy • Most Important Problem • Specific Issues
4 The Media 157
National Reach • Presence in Washington • Public
Use • Coverage and Viewership of Presidential Campaigns,
Conventions, and Debates • Newspaper Endorsements
5 Congress 187
Apportionment • Membership Characteristics • Committees
• Bills and Laws • Voting Patterns • Current Members
v
vi Contents
6 The Presidency and Executive Branch 237
Presidents • Ratings • Backgrounds • Cabinet and
Staff • Congressional Relations • Civil Service
Employment • Regulations
7 The Judiciary 263
Federal and State Court Structures • Supreme Court
Justices • Ratings • Failed Nominations • Federal Court
Judges • Supreme Court Caseloads • Federal Court
Caseloads • Laws Overturned
8 Federalism 291
Historical Data • State Constitutional Provisions • States and
the Federal Constitution • State and Local Governments and
Employees • Revenues and Spending • Personal
Income • Intergovernmental Revenue Flows
9 Foreign and Military Policy 321
Treaties and Agreements • Military Engagements • Military
Personnel • Expenditures • Military Sales and
Assistance • Foreign Aid • Investment and Trade
10 Social Policy 345
Population • Immigration • Medicare and Social
Security • Income Levels • Public Aid • Health
Insurance • Integration in Schooling and
Employment • Abortion • Crime and Punishment
11 Economic Policy 381
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) • Consumer Price Index
(CPI) • Federal Budget • National Debt • Tax
Breaks • Income Inequality • Labor Unions • Minimum
Wages • Unemployment
Appendix: Definitions of Regions 405
Guide to References for Political Statistics 408
Index 431
About the Authors 444
Tables and Figures
Chapter 1 Elections and Political Parties
T 1-1 Voter Turnout Rates: United States, South, and
Non-South, 1789–2012 (percent) 4
F 1-1 Voter Turnout Rates: Presidential and Midterm
Elections, 1789–2012 6
F 1-2 Voter Turnout Rates: Presidential Elections,
South and Non-South, 1789–2012 7
T 1-2 Voting-Age Population Registered and Voting:
Cross Sections, 1994–2012 (percent) 8
F 1-3 American Political Parties since 1789 10
T 1-3 Party Competition: Presidency, by State, 1992–2012 11
T 1-4 Party Competition, by Region, 1860–2012 (percent) 12
T 1-5 Party Competition in the States, 1992–2012 13
T 1-6 Partisan Division of Governors and State
Legislatures, 2013 14
T 1-7 Popular and Electoral Votes for President, 1789–2012 17
T 1-8 Party Winning Presidential Election, by State, 1789–2012 22
T 1-9 Presidential General Election Returns, by State, 2012 24
F 1-4 Presidential General Election Map, 2012 26
T 1-10 House and Senate Election Results, by Congress,
1788–2012 27
T 1-11 Party Victories in U.S. House Elections, by State,
1860–2012 32
T 1-12 Popular Vote and Seats in House Elections, by Party,
1896–2012 34
T 1-13 Divided Government in the United States, by
Congress, 1861–2015 36
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viii Tables and Figures
T 1-14 Split Presidential and House Election Outcomes in
Congressional Districts, 1900–2012 38
T 1-15 Mean Turnover in the House of Representatives from
Various Causes, by Decade and Party System, 1789–2012 39
T 1-16 House and Senate Seats That Changed Party, 1954–2012 40
T 1-17 Losses by President’s Party in Midterm Elections,
1862–2010 42
T 1-18 House and Senate Incumbents Retired, Defeated, or
Reelected, 1946–2012 43
T 1-19 Incumbent Reelection Rates: Representatives, Senators,
and Governors, General Elections, 1960–2012 45
T 1-20 Congressional Districts with a Racial or Ethnic Minority
Representative or a “Majority-Minority” Population, 2013 48
T 1-21 Latino Elected Officials in the United States, 1996–2012 53
T 1-22 Blacks, Hispanics, and Women as a Percentage of
State Legislators and State Voting-Age Population 54
T 1-23 Presidential Primaries, 1912–2012 56
T 1-24 State Methods for Choosing National Convention
Delegates, 1968–2012 57
F 1-5 Democratic and Republican Presidential Nominations,
Campaign Lengths, 1968–2012 61
T 1-25 Republican Presidential Primary Returns, 2012 63
T 1-26 Republican Presidential Caucus Results, 2012 65
T 1-27 Location and Size of National Party Conventions,
1932–2012 66
T 1-28 Profile of National Convention Delegates, 1968–2008
(percent) 67
T 1-29 Legislative Districting: Deviations from Equality in
Congressional and State Legislative Districts (percent) 68
T 1-30 Jurisdictions Subject to Federal Preclearance of
Election Law Changes and to Minority Language
Provisions of the Voting Rights Act 71
T 1-31 Term Limits on State Legislators 72
T 1-32 Members of Congress under Self-Imposed Term Limits,
1998–2022 74
T 1-33 Members “Termed Out” of State Legislatures, 1996–2012 77
T 1-34 Types of Voting Equipment Used in U.S. Elections,
November 2012 79
Chapter 2 Campaign Finance and Political Action Committees
T 2-1 Contribution Limits under the Bipartisan Campaign
Reform Act of 2002 83
T 2-2 Contribution Limits on Funding of State Election
Campaigns 84
Tables and Figures ix
T 2-3 Presidential Campaign Finance, 2012 86
T 2-4 Presidential Campaign Finance, Aggregated
Contributions from Individual Donors to Leading
Presidential Candidates, 2008 and 2012 88
T 2-5 Public Funding of Presidential Elections, 1976–2012
(millions) 89
T 2-6 Financial Activity of the National Political Parties,
1995–2012 (millions) 90
T 2-7 Financial Activity of National, State, and Local Party
Committees, 2011–2012 (millions) 91
T 2-8 National Party Campaign Finance: “Soft” and
“Hard” Money, 1997–2012 (millions) 92
T 2-9 Number of Political Action Committees (PACs),
by Type, 1974–2013 93
T 2-10 PACs: Receipts, Expenditures, and Contributions,
1975–2012 94
T 2-11 Spending, by Type of PAC, 1997–2012 (millions) 95
T 2-12 Contributions and Independent Expenditures, by
Type of PAC, 2001–2012 96
T 2-13 Top Twenty PACs in Overall Spending and in
Contributions to Federal Candidates, 2011–2012 98
T 2-14 PAC Congressional Campaign Contributions, by
Type of PAC and Incumbency Status of Candidate,
1997–2012 (millions) 100
Chapter 3 Public Opinion and Voting
T 3-1 Partisan Identification, American National
Election Studies, 1952–2012 (percent) 107
F 3-1 Partisan Identification, American National Election
Studies, 1952–2012 108
F 3-2 Partisan Identification, Pew Surveys, 1987–2013 109
T 3-2 Partisan Identification, by Groups, 2004–2012
(percent) 110
T 3-3 Liberal or Conservative Self-Identification,
1973–2012 (percent) 113
F 3-3 Liberal, Moderate, and Conservative Self-Identification,
1973–2012 114
F 3-4 Ideological Self-Identification of College Freshmen,
1970–2012 115
T 3-4 Presidential Vote in General Elections, by Groups,
Network Exit Polls, 1996–2012 (percent) 116
F 3-5 Presidential Preferences during 2012 119
T 3-5 Vote in Democratic Presidential Primaries, by Groups,
1988–2008 120
