WHO ARE NONVOTERS - PROFILES FROM THE 1990 SENATE ELECTIONS

This study offers the first exploration of types of nonvoters. Heretof ore, researchers have analyzed factors that distinguish voters from no nvoters, but they have not studied factors that reveal distinctions am ong nonvoters. Scholars view nonvoters as a large monolith, assuming t hat they respond (or fail to respond) to politics in the same way. Thi s paper develops a campaign attention model of nonvoting that proposes that variations in individuals' attention to campaigns create differe nt conditions for nonvoting. In addition, demographic characteristics, general political interest, and the electoral context heighten or les sen these conditions. Together these elements help identify profiles o r types of nonvoters. A cluster analysis finds five distinct types of nonvoters in the 1990 midterm Senate elections: politically ignorant n onvoters (those who are uninformed about the campaign), indifferent no nvoters (those who see no difference between the candidates), selectiv ely aware nonvoters (those who are aware of only one candidate), dissa tisfied nonvoters (those who dislike one or both candidates), and the conditionally inactive (those who do not participate because they are unemployed).