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112 Pol. Sci. Q. 1 (1997-1998)

handle is hein.journals/pclscceqry112 and id is 1 raw text is: 1996 Vote: The No Majority Realignment Continues EVERETT CARLL LADD My last three election articles in Political Science Quarterly have emphasized the powerful continuities evident in the contemporary postindustrial parties and elections system: The 1988 Elections: Continuation of the Post-New Deal System; The 1992 Vote for President Clinton: Another Brittle Mandate?; and The 1994 Congressional Elections: The Realignment Continues. I hope I do not try readers' patience by returning to this continuity theme in assessing the November 1996 outcomes. In multiple understandings of the term, the 1996 vote was a status-quo election. It was obviously such in the sense that it left control of the government essentially unchanged. The Republicans retained majorities in both the House (where their margin dropped from the thirty-two-seat edge they enjoyed following the 1994 balloting to twenty seats) and the Senate (where they gained two seats, bringing their majority to fifty-five to forty-five). This is the first time the GOP has managed congressional majorities for consecutive terms since 1928. Meanwhile, as Table I shows, President Bill Clinton won reelection by a margin similar to the one he gained over George Bush four years earlier. Clinton again won despite persisting doubts about his character because his political skills surpassed his opponent's and because the economy (seen as bad in 1992, good in 1996) was on his side again. EVERETT CARLL LADD is professor of political science and director of the Institute for Social In- quiry at the University of Connecticut and executive director of The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. He is the author of numerous books and articles on American political parties and elections, including Transformation of the American Party System, 2nd ed., rev. (with Charles Hadley), Ameri- can Political Parties, Where Have All the Voters Gone?, America at the Polls, 1994, and America at the Polls, 1996 (in press). Political Science Quarterly Volume 112 Number 1 1997 1