Realignment


1) Normal elections. This is when people vote their normal party identifications because no major events cause a significant number of people to do otherwise.
2) Critical elections. Sometimes these are called realigning elections. These are those elections in which some dramatic crisis or set of events causes large groups of people to adopt new party identifications.
3) Dealigning Elections. These usually precede critical elections. What happens here is that events and failures of the current majority party to deal with those events cause people to drop their old party identifications WITHOUT moving to the other party--they are likely to become independents.
4) Deviating Elections. Deviating elections are characterized by temporary issues and factors that cause those people with party ID's to vote for the candidate of the other party, but not change their party ID. In the next election they are likely to go back to their own party in voting as the issue passes or as the temporary factor disappears. These temporary factors and issues can be such things as an issue position on which voters strongly disagree with their party's candidate.