Energy crises, which amount to painful combinations of energy shortages and soaring prices, have struck the United States several times in recent decades. Each time they have resulted in political and economic shockwaves because, when gasoline becomes more expensive, the American public tends to react with anger and suspicion. Energy crises instantly put related issues at the top of the nation's agenda, sometimes with dramatic consequences for public policy. What can we learn from recent history, particularly as it may predict the role that volatile public opinion will play throughout the energy policy making process? As The Politics of Energy Crises demonstrates, one can discern patterns in politics and policymaking when looking at the cycles of energy crises in the United States. As such it is the first systematic historical study of political conflict, public opinion, and organized interest group and presidential and congressional action on energy issues, starting with the 1973 OPEC boycott and continuing through the present day. By charting the commonalities in political battles during energy crises, the authors make prognoses about what future energy crises will mean for United States policy.

The citizens of the United States generally oppose new energy developments, yet the public does not want to go without cheap, plentiful energy. This book explores the intricate relationship between public opinion and energy issues. Using the state of California as a model, the author addresses such questions as, What roles do ideology and other values play in influencing opinions on energy issues? How much does the public understand about energy issues? Who favors further oil development or the expansion of nuclear power? How have people's opinions changed over time and how are they likely to change in the future? Are people guided by self-interest or other motives? Energy, the Environment, and Public Opinion sheds light on how much the public understands about energy policy, what the public wants officials to do about our energy problems, and how governments at various levels are likely to come to grips with energy shortages in the future.

Have the American people grown more politically sophisticated in the past three decades, or do they remain relatively ignorant of the political world? Did a 'great leap forward' take place during the 1960s in which our citizenry became involved and adept voters? In this important book, Eric Smith addresses these and other provocative questions that have long befuddled political scientists and policymakers. Much of the current wisdom about American voters derives from an argument advanced in a volume entitled "The Changing American Voter", written by Nie, Verba, and Petrocik. In this work, the authors contend that the electorate made a 'great leap forward' in political sophistication and ideological thinking between the 1960 and 1964 elections. They argue that people changed in response to a shifting environment, and that, in particular, the surge of protest and ideological rhetoric between 1960 and 1964 engendered a new political savvy and sophistication. In their view, people learned to understand politics better, to relate the issues to the candidates more accurately, and to cast more informed, intelligent votes. In "The Unchanging American Voter", Smith takes issue with this portrait of an engaged American citizenry and replaces it with a quite different picture of the voters of this nation. He posits a more bleak political landscape in which the typical voter knows little about politics, is not interested in the political arena and consequently does not participate in it, and is even unable to organize his or her attitudes in a coherent manner. To support this view, Smith demonstrates how the indices by which Nie, Verba, and Petrocik measured levels of sophistication during the 1960s were methodologically flawed and how a closer examination of supposed changes reveals only superficial and unimportant shifts in the ways voters have approached the ballot box since the 1950s. "The Unchanging American Voter" is an intelligent and original work that provides a new perspective of the American citizenry. It is sure to engender discussion and debate about the dynamics of voting in postwar America.