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on the subject, however, I became fascinated by the intricacies of the institution. Given the significance of the Electoral College to presidential election strategies, voter turnout, citizen efficacy, federalism, and the overall legitimacy of the American political process, it is astonishing how little attention scholars have devoted to it. To be sure, some scholars have addressed the Electoral College’s relation to these issues, but for the most part, scholars have neglected this important institution. Although political scientists recognize the importance it carries in the presidential selection process, scholars and citizens know relatively little about the myriad effects it has upon political behavior. Nowhere is this truer than concerning the role of presidential electors in this process. My research illustrates that the service of a presidential elector involves quite a bit more than scholars previously thought. This is especially the case regarding the lobbying campaigns electors find themselves the targets of and the apparent indecision many electors experience when casting their ballots for president and vice president of the United States. The following pages document Electoral College lobbying activity and the appearance of what I term wavering electors.
In order to gain a better understanding of this exclusive body, I surveyed members of the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Electoral Colleges. To my knowledge, this is the first full-length treatment of these mysterious figures of American politics. That it has taken over two hundred years for someone to examine presidential electors suggests that such a treatment is long overdue. After all, these individuals are charged with casting the ultimate votes for the most powerful figures in the world. The sacred trust of the nation is placed in their hands, yet they have remained virtually anonymous for over two centuries.
Before undertaking this project on presidential electors, I had conducted most of my research on the behavior of interest groups at the state level. Thus, I was familiar with a number of large-scale surveys of interest groups in the states; I even conducted one of those surveys myself. Given the paucity of data on presidential electors, conducting a survey of electors came quite natural to me. So with the help of a Pi Sigma Alpha chapter activity grant in 2003–2004, a number of students from our chapter