What process is described as the behavior of voters when they assess incumbents (and vote accordingly) based upon their performance in office?

There are two types of choices when one makes a vote:

Regarding the case mentioned in the question, when a voter assesses a candidate's past performance, regardless of the political affiliation of this candidate, he is engaging in a "rational" vote.  

first, the romans stayed isolated because they had to defend their own territories from neighboring cities that were harassing them, like the etruscans. second, once the romans managed to defeat their neighbors, and started to expand their territory, they started to build roads and bridges. finally, now that the romans have covered their territory with roads functioning as highways, they could mobilize their legions faster to assemble larger military units in a specific place.

answer; i believe the correct answer is norming;