Government and Politics (GOPO) Practice Test

Evaluating incumbents by their past results. In this model, voters look at what the government has actually delivered—economic conditions, policy outcomes, and the quality of governance—and decide whether to reward or punish the person in office based on that record. If the track record is viewed as favorable, the incumbent is more likely to be reelected; if it’s viewed as unfavorable, the incumbent may be voted out. This focus on what has already happened distinguishes retrospective voting from other models: prospective voting centers on future promises, and issue voting concentrates on a specific policy issue. Rational choice voting is a broad idea about weighing costs and benefits to maximize personal gain, which can apply in various contexts but doesn’t specifically prescribe judging past performance.