1. What is the general understanding of the term "independent voter"?
Independent voters are those who do not affiliate with either Democratic or Republican parties and are viewed as a special, elusive, important group of voters.
2. How do these researchers characterize voters who call themselves independent?
Independents are "partisans who don't want to admit that they are partisans." In other words, they have the sameT partisan views but identify as independent because they don't want to identify their preferred party because the nominees are unsatisfactory.
3. How do independent political preferences compare to those of democrats and republicans?
Independents often have the same political views as the partisans of their respective party.
4. What are "leaners"? How are leaners different from party members?
Leaners are independents who do prefer one party over another. Leaners toward a certain party are no different from partisans of a party; they consistently support their favored party every election.
5. What % of Americans call themselves independent? Democrats? Republicans?
42% call themselves independent, 29% Democrats, and 26% Republicans.
6. What % of Americans actually don't lean towards one of the parties?
Only 13% out of the 42% of those independent report that they don't lean towards either party.
7. Why are people likely to call themselves independent instead of identifying themselves with a party?
People believe that being independent makes them look more favorable to others; it doesn't carry the negative connotations of calling oneself a strong Democrat or Republican. Independents are viewed as being more reasonable, trustworthy, and likeable than partisans.
8. What prevents independents from forming a real third party challenge to democrats & republicans?
They can't form a real third party because they would have to truly believe that neither of the two main parties can represent their views and because they are too diverse to unite interests around a single candidate.
9. Why don't independents actually impact the outcome of elections that much?
Since independents are really just partisans who don't want to be seen as partisans, it is pretty certain that they will vote for their preferred party.
10. How are moderate voters different than "independents"?
Moderates can be defined as those whose political ideologies are in the middle of the liberal-conservative spectrum, those who have a mix of conservative and liberal political values, or those who just don't know much about politics to make determinations. However, independents usually share the same views as partisans of a party.
11. How are "swing voters" and "undecided voters" different?
Swing voters are those who may change their preferences to either party during an election because they lack strong partisan beliefs. They are different from undecided voters, those wait until the last minute before the end of the election to decide on a candidate.
