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Myth Boxes
Elections as a Mandate
We often hear people speak of elections as providing a mandate, or instruction, for our political leaders—a map of public views on specific issues for elected officials to use in developing public policy. We suggest that this belief represents the myth of the mandate. The election process does provide the nation's political leaders with general guidelines for directing domestic and foreign policy, but these directions are strictly limited.
First, the mandate is restricted by the size of voter turnout. In recent presidential elections only a little more than 50 percent of the eligible electorate has voted. This means that of the entire eligible electorate, less than 30 percent votes for the winning presidential candidate, a phenomenon that is typical of almost all elections. With so few actual supporters, winning candidates can scarcely argue that they have a mandate from the people.
Voter motivation also limits the mandate. People vote for candidates for different reasons. Few voters support all of a candidate's positions. You may agree with your senator's economic policies and disagree with his or her positions on the environment, trade tariffs, and defense. Your friends may vote for the same candidate but for different reasons. Thus the diversity of the voters' positions makes it impossible to assume that an election victory represents a mandate on any single issue.
Finally, retrospective voting further decreases the mandate. As we have said, voters often choose candidates on the basis of their past record of accomplishments. This happened in the 1980 presidential elections, when many voters rejected the incumbent, Jimmy Carter, because of his record, and in 1992, when the incumbent, George Bush, lost to Bill Clinton based in part on his past record. A victory, then, may not be based on issues at all but on past performance, which also invalidates the notion of mandate.
Despite these restrictions, winning candidates must assume that they have been given some direction from the voters. They even have the right to assume that they have received the support of a majority of those who turn out on election day and that the support can be translated into action. As you can see, like most myths, the concept of election mandates creates complex dilemmas for elected officials.
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