Incumbency provides a record and visibility; challengers may offer outsider status. Candidate-centered voting means personal evaluations carry substantial weight, not that party and issues disappear. A scandal can produce defection among otherwise loyal partisans, while polarization can make even unpopular nominees retain most party voters.

Issue voting occurs when policy positions or priorities help determine choice. Proximity voters prefer the candidate closest to their own position; directional voters may reward movement in a favored direction; single-issue voters give one concern unusual weight. Issue voting requires some awareness of the alternatives and perceived difference between them. A citizen may care deeply about a subject yet rely on party cues because candidate positions are uncertain.

A voter can agree with one party on economic policy and another on social policy, forcing a tradeoff. Parties emphasize issues on which the public sees them as competent and try to frame the election around those dimensions. Candidate evaluations can serve as shortcuts when policy information is costly.

Party identification is a long-term orientation; candidate evaluation concerns the people running; issue voting concerns policy agreement or priority. A single choice may reflect all three. Distinguish an explanation of probability from a deterministic label. Party identifiers sometimes cross over, issue voters use cues, and candidate impressions are shaped by parties. Measure each influence separately before concluding which consideration carried the greatest weight in a particular choice.

Video lesson: How Voters Decide: Crash Course Government and Politics #38