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Abstract
Why people behave, the way they do? The term Psephology has emerged from Greek city states where two words, psephos meaning pebble and logy denoting a field of study were used (Indian today Magazine, July 2012). The aim of this research paper is to develop the theory and practice of psephology at both applied and academic levels. It will also inspire the scholars and practiceners who chart the mainstream of electoral research, surveys, exit polls and strategies in the future. It has also been observed that the political culture of any country/group/community/individual might fundamentally differ from other one and another. There is no country in the world to-day which can boast of single uniform political culture. Almond and Verba have listed four ideal types of political culture namely, Parochial, Subject, Participant and Political Sub-culture.
The modern history of academic voting research or psephology began in 1940 at Columbia University, where a team of social scientists assembled by Paul Lazarsfeld pioneered the application of survey research to the study of electoral behavior. Foreign scholars like David Elkins (1977), Myron Weiner (1965), Paul Brass (1993) and others have taken keen interest in studying electoral politics in India. B.D. Graham finds that Indian election studies have two kinds of theories:- (a) Enlightenment theory (b) Transactional theory (Graham:1975). This is measured through, Campaigning finance information and other related data, Public opinion poll, Election Campaign War Room management, Election Literature development and creation.