Groups and Voters
Single-issue politics are a form of litmus test; common examples are abortion, taxation, animal rights, environment, and gun politics. The National Rifle Association in the United States, which has only one specific interest, is an example of a single-issue group. What differentiates single-issue groups from other interest groups is their intense style of lobbying.
The term single-issue voter has been used to describe people who may make voting decisions based on the candidates' stance on a single issue (e.g. "pro-life" or "pro-choice", support for gun rights or gun-control). The existence of single-issue voters can give a distorted impression: a candidate's overall views may not enjoy the same support. For example, a person who votes for a socially conservative Republican candidate, based solely on his or her support of gun rights, may not necessarily share the candidate's other views on social issues, such as abortion or family values.
Read more about this topic: Single-issue Politics
Famous quotes containing the words groups and/or voters:
“Writers and politicians are natural rivals. Both groups try to make the world in their own images; they fight for the same territory.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)
“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)