The Berelson Paradox Reconsidered Intention-Behavior Changers in U.S. and Swedish Election Campaigns

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Abstract
The Berelson paradox is that in democracies, the aggregate requirement for adaptability is provided by the least qualified voters, i.e., volatile voters tend to be less knowledgeable and less involved in politics. Analysis of data from ten U.S. and seven Swedisg national election studies pointed to a significant interaction effect. The early findings regarding interest and knowledge were consisitently replicated in the U.S., but not in Sweden. In Sweden, intention-behaviour changers were not likely to be low in intest or knowledge, and interested nonpartisans were overrepresented among the intention-behaviour changers.

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