Electoral behavior is the most popular form of citizen participation in the political life of the country. This is due primarily to the fact that voting is a more traditional type of behavior of the citizen than, for example, participation in the activities of political parties, participation in demonstrations, strikes, etc. However, today electoral behavior remains one of the most little-studied areas of political sociology; there is a lack of methodological generalizations and techniques of sociological analysis. Therefore, research into issue requires thorough theoretical and methodological elaboration. The aim of the study, the results of which are presented in the article, is to analyze the main theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of electoral behavior. This study allows us to draw the following conclusions. Foreign science has developed three approaches to the study of electoral behavior: sociological, socio-psychological (party identification theory) and the theory of rational choice. Russian studies are based on the theoretical-methodological basis developed by foreign scientists and are dedicated to aspects of electoral behavior such as drivers of voting behavior, mechanisms that influence electoral activity, methods of manipulating public consciousness, phenomenon of electoral trust, features of electoral behavior of the youth. Attempts were also made to determine the degree of applicability of foreign theories to Russian realities. According to the author, due to the limitations of existing theories, the study of electoral behavior should be dominated by the comprehensive approach
Keywords
public opinion monitoring, theoretical and methodological approaches, electoral behavior, sociological approach, theory of party identification, rational choice theory